Did he not trust her? Was he going to try to convince her this was a big mistake?
“I love you,” he said.
Of all the things he could have said, words of love were not something she thought he would say. “What?”
He smiled. “Yeah, I love you, Charity. I have loved you for a lifetime, but I have … kept those feelings to myself for so long. Trying to honor the guy code, but I can’t do it. I won’t do it. I loved your brother like a … brother. But you, I love as my woman. Mine. No one else’s. I have tried to stay away from you. Allowed you to live your own life without me interfering.” He shook his head. “I can’t do it. Not anymore.”
He cupped her cheek. “I love you, Charity, and I was so fucking wrong to walk away like that. I want you to ride with me. To come with me. To be my old lady. We can explore together. I can show you the world. All you’ve got to do is let me.”
Tears filled her eyes as she stared at him. “You’re being serious?”
“Yeah, I’m being serious. I love you, Charity. Always have, but I don’t want to live without you anymore. Not anymore.”
Charity pressed her lips against his. “I love you too. I love you so much.”
“Then come with me. Be with me. I … you’re going to love it, I promise.”
Sayingnowas out of the question. “Am I dreaming right now?” she asked.
“No, you’re not.” He kissed her hard. “I love you, Charity. Love you so fucking much, and I’m not going to allow another moment for us to be apart. This is it. You and me, for the rest of our lives. And the club. Do you think you can handle that?”
Charity cupped his face. “Yeah, I think I can handle that.”
Epilogue
Six months later
Bad looked toward his woman, who had climbed off his bike thirty minutes ago. She had already helped to set up the food pit for them to cook some food. Piper and Charlotte had headed toward the lake to get cleaned up.
Charity stood toward the peak of the cliff.
They had gotten married during a quick trip to Vegas. He had always assumed she wanted the big wedding, the white dress, and the photographer. Instead, they got married in their biker gear, surrounded by their club and a whole lot of love.
He checked to see if he was needed for anything, but the guys shook him off.
After walking up the peak, he got to his woman and circled her waist with his arms.
“Hello, wife,” he said.
She burst out laughing. “You keep saying that. I’m starting to wonder if you’re regretting having me around.”
“Never.” He pressed kisses to her neck, nibbling against her earlobe. “I would never regret this and having you.”
She sank back against him.
The road life, the nomad life, was natural for Charity. The past six months had been a shock to him, to see how easily she adapted. “I love this,” she said. “Look at how beautiful it is.”
The view over the cliff was beautiful and terrifying all at the same time. Around them was an abundance of forest that was interrupted by a few random houses. Across the valley, they saw a small town, again surrounded by forest.
He kissed her neck. “Have I told you that I love you?”
“Not in the past hour.”
Bad laughed and kissed her neck. “I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.”
Charity spun in his arms. “And I love you, more than anything.”
He gripped the back of her head and kissed her hard, loving the moan that escaped her.
“We are going to need to take a dip in that lake,” Bad said.
“Oh, yeah.”
“We stink real bad.”
Charity threw her head back and laughed. This was what he’d been missing from his life.
Charity. The woman he’d been in love with for a lifetime. The woman who was finally his, and he would do anything for her. Even skinny dip in a freezing cold lake.
The End