What Doesn't Destroy Us (The Devil's Dust #1)

Shadow leans in and bites my collarbone, making me throw my leg around his waist.


“Up for a challenge, huh?” I whisper, my arousal making it hard to speak.

Shadow pulls back and looks at my expression; amused.

“I bet you can’t keep your hands off of me for the rest of the day,” I taunt, knowing he won’t take the deal and I don’t want him to anyway.

“Hands only”? he asks, his voice borderline sneaky. I could see him now fucking me with no hands; he wouldn’t be breaking the rules and he would be proud of that.

“As in, no having sex with me all day,” I say, making the terms more clear.

Shadow sucks in his bottom lip and looks to the floor deep in thought.

“Deal,” he says, reconnecting our gaze, his words surprising me. Shit, how will I live a day without him touching me? I wasn’t thinking when I made this deal.

I open the drawer with that, wondering how I am going to keep to my own terms, when my eyes spot the bikini I had as a surprise. Maybe getting Shadow to lose this challenge would be more fun than I thought.

I grab the bikini and go into the bathroom, afraid that if he sees what I am putting on he will make me take it off before he is slammed with the full effect.

I slip the top on; the thin little triangles cover my breasts, but barely. I reach for the bottoms, slide my legs in, and tie the strings at my hips.

“I’m going to get a drink, babe.” I hear Shadow call out. I hurry and open the door and walk out, throwing my hair over my shoulder casually.

“Huh? Yeah, okay,” I say, acting as if I don’t look like a piece of fuck-me candy.

“What. The. Fuck.” Shadow bellows, his mouth hung open in astonishment.

“You play dirty, Bitch,” he says, sexually. He walks over and brushes his fingers across the material on my breast. I look down and watch.

Shadow smirks. “Mine looks fucking sexy as hell in leather.” He continues admiring me .

When I saw the black-as-sin leather bikini, I knew I had to have it. I was sure it would buckle Shadow at the knees.

He grabs me by the hips with a growl and throws me on the bed.

“What about the challenge?” I plead. He can’t give in this easy; I have all kinds of taunts and teases in my head.

“Bets off”! he says, pulling his trunks off and releasing his massive erection. It was so hard it looked like it would explode.

“But-“

Shadow pulls my bottoms to the side, not taking them off, just giving himself enough room and slams his erection into my wet heat quickly. My head is thrown back as his hand slides to the small of my back lifting my torso slightly off the bed. Arching my back gives him that angle where he rubs my g-spot and he goes in deep.

After another round of hot, mind-blowing sex, I lay next to Shadow panting and staring. He has been so playful lately, will he go back to being an ass when we get back to the club? I know he will never leave the club and, to be honest, I don’t want him to, we just need to find a balance. I wonder if he always wanted to be part of a motorcycle club.

“What?” he asks.

“I was just curious, what did you want to be when you grew up?” I play with the skull being crushed tattoo on his back, the club's insignia.

Shadow sits there for a second, pondering. “I wanted to be like my dad,” he says with sorrow, making me regret my question.

“What about you?” he asks.

I smile at him, knowing my answer will shock him.

“A ballerina.”

Shadow snorts, making me laugh.

“So why didn’t you?” he asks seriously.

I shake my head. The thought of why I wasn’t a ballerina causes my chest to constrict with anger. I sigh loudly.

“I started ballet young; I loved it. I did it almost every day. As I got older and my mother became the bitch she is today, it became my escape. I felt like a princess, ya know?” I look at Shadow, his lips turning into a smirk. ”As I got older, I got good, too, really good. My instructor wanted me to help teach younger children, maybe even get a scholarship. When I told my mother, she was anything but excited. She told me acting like a princess wasn’t a career choice for her daughter and to stay in school. She made me not only decline the offer, but drop out. She said I needed to focus on school. She drained my bank account so I couldn’t pay for the classes anymore, in case I tried to go behind her back.” A tear escaped my swollen eyes as I retold the hurtful memory. I remember it as if it was yesterday, but in reality it was only a few years ago.

“If it wasn’t for your mother, would you still be doing it today?” Shadow asks quietly, his thumb brushing off the lonely tear.

I look into his blue eyes. “Absolutely.” There is no doubt in my mind I would still be doing ballet if it wasn’t for her. She would never listen to what I wanted, even if it made me happy. She wanted the status of what others would think of her, even if it made me miserable.