“You know me by now, Prez. I don't do idle talk. I don't say shit I don't mean, and I'd never even pretend with something like this. She's mine, dammit, I swear it.” I looked at Meg, ignoring his wild-eyed stare. “She was mine from the minute I saw her in that bastard's whorehouse. Mine from the instant I pulled her here and decided to get her home. Mine when she came back tonight. This is just making things official, putting a pretty formality on what we both knew. Now, I'm gonna make sure everybody in the whole damned world knows it – or at least every man in this club.”
“Jesus, Skin.” She whispered my name softly, her lips trembling.
Fuck it. I wasn't gonna let her break down or spit the confusion written on her face. I grabbed the back of her neck and pushed her to my lips. We kissed pure hellfire there in Dust's office, all while he watched in total amazement.
“I'd say you've lost your damned mind, Skin, but it's clear you've actually put some brains into this. Fuck me.” I forced myself off Meg's lips and looked at the Prez as he circled back behind his desk, shaking his head. “Listen, you two, before you make a big damned mistake...if she wants to get out of all this shit, this ain't the way to go about it. Does this girl even know what becoming an old lady means?”
I looked into Meg's deep blue eyes. No, she didn't, but I'd show her everything she had to know.
I'd lead her by the hand as sure as I'd master her in my bed every night. I already owned her, inside and out, and this was just making things official.
I claimed right here, right now, because I'd decided I couldn't let her slip away again. Not when she got scared of the club, or scared of me.
Not when she feared for her life, or wondered if she really fit in here. Not when she had any damned doubts about what I had for her beating straight through my ribs, the manic beat she put into my heart.
“I'll lead her every step of the way, Prez. That's between her and me. Give us twenty-four hours, and she'll be back here wearing my brand, PROPERTY OF SKIN.”
“Let your old lady answer for a change, if that's what she really wants to be,” Dust snapped. He sat up in his scrappy leather chair and pointed a finger at her.
“You've got my assurances, whether you think I'll honor that handshake or not. You don't need to do anything rash with this poor, desperate bastard if you don't want to. Say no, and I'll make sure he doesn't ride your ass. This is my club, and I've got the final say when it comes to who gets to be part of it. You really want to get yourself in deeper? Because there's no going back once you've got his name inked on your pretty flesh. You're his property then, and one more extension of the club.”
Fuck, the Prez made it sound like lock and key with no rewards. He didn't tell her that becoming mine meant I'd kill for her, keep my loyalty to this woman in blood, surrender the wild I'd known my whole life for her embrace.
I waited for her reaction. The next five seconds were the most tense of my entire fucking life.
I'd done everything here on a whim, going by nothing more than the love in her eyes. Now, I was about to find out if that pure, sweet energy would be enough, or if the beautiful baby girl in my arms would panic, break, and go running back to the comfort and privilege she'd always known.
Don't do it, I thought, clenching my jaw. You know where you belong, babe.
Here. Now. Forever.
“Honestly, I don't know what I'm getting into here,” Meg said slowly, pausing just long enough to make my damned heart stop. She spun around, flattening her hands on my chest, smiling at me. “But if it brings us closer together, Skin, I'm ready for it. I'm ready to take on anything. You saved my life and taught me I didn't die back in Ricky's place. You showed me I could have another life. You're all I could think about at my parents' place. I dated plenty before the pimp took me, and I never found any man with a scrap of what you're offering.”
“Babe, fuck, just say the word,” I whispered, tightening my hold on her back, fighting to keep my hands off her perfect ass.
“I love you, Skin. And, well, I'm game for whatever this old lady thing means. No regrets. No going back.” She turned and looked at Dust, pushing her cheek onto my chest. “Just keep my man safe, Dust. That's all I'm going to ask from your club. If what he's telling me is true, then I'll be out of your hair for good, right?”
“Shit, you're sweet. Innocent and a little dumb. Nah, it's worse than that, girl. You haven't bought yourself a ticket outta anything.” Dust's smiled, and his shoulders straightened. “Becoming an old lady means you're part of this family. If anybody owes anyone else here a damned thing, it's the club promising you protection, the same as any brother.”
We both broke into a smile. I couldn't keep my lips off her. I didn't give a shit about the bulldog with the PRESIDENT patch watching us neither.
We plunged into a new flurry of kisses in the Prez's office, hungry as all hell, feeding the fire we shared, flames that wouldn't be dashed 'til we finally consummated this thing.