Her hands were at her sides. I was holding her up. That’s when she started to cry.
The sound of the pouring rain outside. The sound of my girl crying. I hated it. I wanted to give her more in life. That piece of shit her aunt married needed to pay. The way he talked to Linds and the way he treated her had always been wrong. But now he hit her? Fuck no.
Linds moved her hands to the back of my leather cut. She clawed at me. She turned her head and looked up at me. I felt her lips touch my neck.
“I missed you,” she said. “So much, King. Just be here tonight with me, okay?”
“Always, sweetie,” I said. “Let’s get you out of those wet clothes.”
“Please, yes,” she said. “I feel so gross right now.”
“Not a chance,” I said. “You’ll never know how beautiful you are, Linds. I’m going to spend every day of my life showing you that.”
I finally got a flicker of a smile out of her.
Then I kissed her.
Then I led the way to the clubhouse to strip her out of those wet clothes and make her forget about the night.
It was an hour later when we were wrapped up together, naked, under a blanket. My cock was still throbbing from the things her sweet body had just done to it. I had my hand across her chest, feeling her heart still racing.
Her eyes were shut.
I refused to shut mine though.
Nights like that I didn’t want to end. Because they always brought tomorrow. And tomorrow for us had never really worked out.
So for me, I had tonight.
My girl, in my arms. Feeling her body. Feeling her heartbeat.
Feeling her love.
13
(Lindsey) *NOW*
I ALMOST PASSED OUT AGAIN.
I looked at myself in the bathroom mirror. There was a red mark on my face but it wasn’t too bad. It hurt worse to touch than it looked. I couldn’t believe Nelson actually got drunk enough to do that to me. Better yet…
I shut my eyes and side stepped.
I left the bathroom and saw him standing in the hallway.
King.
It made my heart jump, twist, flip, and almost pop.
It made no sense. I never thought I would ever see him again. But there he was, standing in the hallway of my apartment. Filling the fucking hallway with his wide shoulders and body. He had always been built, every piece of muscle and ounce of strength earned through living the hard life he did.
I just stared at him.
“Still shocked?” he asked.
“I feel like I’m going to wake up from a dream.”
“Or from being knocked out from some asshole?”
I sucked in a breath. “Oh…”
“Yeah,” King said. “What is that about? Of all the things I worried about you while I was inside. Never that, sweetie.”
I reached for my cheek. Tears were back in my eyes. I was embarrassed that it had happened. That I let things escalate that far with Nelson. I even felt guilt. That I put Nelson into a position where he did that.
King stepped forward. He touched my arms. He swallowed hard. His Adam’s apple flexed. God, that was such a fucking turn on.
“Never again,” he whispered. “No man ever has the right to touch you. Not like that. I sat inside a small cell, day after day, wondering about you. Hoping you were finding happiness. But that? Getting smacked on by some fucking prick. That can never happen again.”
“It’s my fault.”
King shook his head. “That’s the thing, sweetie, it’s not your fault. Don’t ever believe that. Fight that shit off. You’re stronger than that.”
“He never did it before.”
“He… who is he?”
“Nelson. My…”
King ran his hands down to my fingers. I felt him touch the small diamond ring. He slowly lifted my left hand and stared at it. I saw the hurt spread across his face. He was holding my hand, his thumb rolling left to right over the diamond again and again. And again.
He touched his chin with his other hand and swallowed even harder.
“You love that guy?”
“I tried to force myself to love him,” I said. “I just couldn’t do it.”
King lowered my hand and then broke away from me. “I just wanted to see you. To make sure you were okay. That’s all.”
“No,” I said. “You can’t just do that to me. You can’t just take off. We’re not playing that game anymore.”
“Game? What game?”
“How the hell are you even here right now? Don’t I get that?”
King made fists. “It’s hard to explain, sweetie. That’s all I can say.”
He started to step back.
I rushed after him, grabbing for his arms. He was so built, so strong. I gripped his left arm and sank my feet into the carpet. King just dragged me like I wasn’t even there.
“Please!” I begged. “I haven’t seen you in over a year!”
King flicked his hand against the door handle and then looked back. “I know, sweetie. I just wanted to check on you. Make sure you were okay.”
“I’m not okay,” I confessed. “You saw what happened. It’s like before. I’m lost. I… you…”