We shower, and I clean her with my hands and lips. I kiss every inch of her body, so wanting to taste but knowing if I do I won’t be able to stop. She uses her hands all over my body too. When she tries to wrap her hands around my cock, I tell her not yet. She has scars on her right ankle from surgery and other damage. The scar on her side goes through to the back, same with the shoulder wound. Her forearms are covered in scars. Whatever my spitfire went through, it was a lot. More than her mind is ready to share.
I take her home and spend the rest of the day hanging out with her and Mari. I had messaged her mom and told her what happened, and she confronted Sydney when we got to the house. I tried not to interrupt and put in my two cents, but I was happy to hear Sydney assure her mother she was going to get help. Whatever she went through, her mom knows about, and it was serious enough that I heard them say something about attorneys.
I also learn that Sydney’s friend Lydia will be going through a nasty divorce soon and that’s why her kids were here yesterday. Between her friend’s soon-to-be ex-husband knowing where Sydney lives to whatever she’s hiding from me about her past, I’m beginning to worry about all the crap circling around my girl. I won’t let any of it touch her. I plan on making myself a fixture in her life as much as she’ll let me.
CHAPTER7
SYDNEY
It’s been two weeks since the incident at the clubhouse. Tucker is always at my house or we are always together. It’s Valentine’s Day and normally I don’t do anything, especially because it’s a Sunday, but Tucker and my mom made arrangements for a date night. I tried to tell him it was just a Hallmark holiday, but he got me with the “I never wanted to celebrate until this year” speech.
My nightmares are still recurrent, but I’m seeing a counselor now.
I stand in front of my closet, looking for something to wear. Most of my dresses are from before I moved here, but I settle on a sleeveless tank Bohemian maxi dress in a taupe color. It has a side slit and I’ll wear low-heeled shoes. I go a bit lighter with my makeup, mostly bronzer and some concealer under my eyes, no foundation. My hair is in loose waves, and I have a pale color on my lips. I step out of my room as my cell phone rings.
“Hello,” I answer.
“Where the fuck are my wife and kids, Sydney?” Colton shouts through the phone line.
“I don’t know.”
“Liar. I know you helped her.”
“You just got home? She and the kids are so important to you, aren’t they?” I bait him.
“I will take those kids away from her for this. She can’t go off with them without my permission,” he growls, and a chill runs up my spine in fear. I’ve always thought he was a passive kind of person, but here he is showing how angry he can be. My doorbell rings and I go answer it. Tucker steps in as Colton raises his voice again.
“I will find them, Sydney. You and your bitch mother can’t hide them from me.” I’m about to respond when my phone is ripped from my hand. I turn in surprise toward Tucker.
“Are you threatening my woman, asshole?” His voice is calm and full of steel. I’ve never seen this side of Tucker. His body is tight and he’s on alert. I can’t hear what Colton says, but he isn’t raising his voice anymore. “You want to talk to her, you’re going to have to go through me, asswipe.” Tucker pulls the phone away from his ear and stabs the disconnect button.
“I could’ve handled him.” I stand before him with my hands on my hips.
“No man talks to you like that.” I watch his eyes move down my body and heat when he takes in my outfit. “Now come here and give me those sexy as fuck lips.” He orders, and like every other time he orders me around, I move toward him, forgetting I’m mad at him. I lean up and he leans down, our lips meeting. His warm lips and scruff cause my nipples to pebble behind my bra and dress. True to his word, we still haven’t had sex, but we’ve fooled around. If I get my way tonight, I’m going to go further with this hot as fuck man.
He pulls away and I take him in. He’s dressed in newer dark blue jeans and a dark blue button-down shirt with a few buttons left undone. The sleeves are rolled up, showing his sexy forearms and tattoos. He has a blue T-shirt on beneath it.
“Don’t look at me like that, baby. I tell you all the time I’m a moment from taking you the way you need to be.”
“Please,” I beg and lean back against the wall behind me. The same wall he had me pressed against the first time he kissed me. He shakes his head and moves into the living room. How is he so strong with this? I’ve begged him. I know he wants me, but the doubt is still there. “Why not? Do you not want me like that?”
He turns back to me and pins me with his eyes. He moves across the room to me. One of his hands lands on my hip and the other is pressed into the wall above my head. I tip back my chin to look up at him. The blue and green in his eyes swirl together, making them look like the sky before a tornado strikes. My body fidgets, and I press my legs together, trying to put pressure on my clit as it throbs.
“Baby, I want you so much I have to go home every night and take care of myself. Every morning I wake up needing you, but I’m not going to take you until you realize that I’m forever. I’m not just here for the moment. You and I are going to have a long time together.”
I moan at his words. My heart clenching. I want forever with him, but it scares me still.
“I can’t—” He leans down and takes my lips again. His tongue thrusts into my mouth like I want him to do to my body. He pulls away before I can pull him close.
“Don’t say it because you will want it soon enough. As soon as you realize I’m not going anywhere. As soon as you realize I’m not like your old man.” He moves away from me, and I stand there taking in his words. I told him about how my father left me and how I feel about that. How I felt about both my parents choosing their careers over me.
“Hello, my sweet little girl,” he says, cooing to Mari, who kicks from her blanket on the floor. She’s rolling and trying to push herself up on her hands and knees. I move to her bag when my legs finally stop trembling and we get ready to head out.
“We don’t need that,” Tucker says when I reach down to pick up the car seat I removed from my car earlier.
“Oh yes, we do. She can’t ride in our laps.” I swing around to look at him as he chuckles.
“I got a car seat in my truck for her.”