Bear’s family was everything she’d always wished she’d had.
Crystal helped carry the dishes inside, and when she came back out, Biggs was sitting at the table petting Tinkerbell. He patted the seat beside him. “Sit with me a minute.”
She heard Bear’s hearty laughter, which she loved so much, and as she sat down, Bear and Bones came outside.
“Tell me about your family,” Biggs said.
Bear sat beside her and pulled his chair so close their legs touched. He took her hand in his, watching her with a look that said he’d rescue her from the conversation, but she didn’t need rescuing. She needed to cross this bridge at some point. It might as well be now.
“We lost my father when I was nine. My mother lives about an hour away, and honestly, she’s a mess. A drinker,” she said, surprised at how easily the truth came. “And my brother, Jed, is, well, he’s a good guy, but he’s been in some trouble. He’s trying to clean up his act, though.”
Biggs’s gaze never left hers. He wasn’t looking at her with a harsh glare or with tenderness. He was simply looking at her, without judgment. “I’m sorry about your parents. And glad to hear your brother is finding his way. Sometimes we have to fall before we learn to stand on our own.” His eyes shifted to Bear. “And sometimes life throws us oceans of trouble, and it’s all we can do to keep our heads above water.”
She couldn’t be sure if he was talking about her life, or theirs, but she lowered her eyes, feeling self-conscious. “Yes, that’s true.”
He tapped the side of her leg with his cane, and when she met his gaze, he was smiling again. “You keep that head up, darlin’. You’re floating. Nothing can keep you down. But if life ever tries to drown you again, you’ve got Bear and all of us to pull you up. We take care of our own.”
Tears welled in her eyes. She didn’t think as she rose from her chair and hugged the father who had taught the man she adored about family, loyalty, and respect. He’d taught him how to be a man—and how to love.
Chapter Twenty-Two
CRYSTAL STOOD IN front of the bathroom mirror fixing her makeup and trying not to laugh at Bear, who was leaning on the doorframe watching her. His legs were crossed casually at the ankles, but there was nothing casual about the wolfish grin on his face.
“Don’t you have something better to do?” She set down her eyeliner and smoothed her black tank top, giving her hips an extra shake for his benefit. She secretly loved that he was always lusting after her. They’d been together for more than a month, or by Bear’s count, more than nine months. Either way, she was more in love with him than ever.
He stepped behind her, nibbling on her shoulder the way he knew drove her mad. “Better than this? Are you nuts, silly girl?”
“Bullet will be here in a few minutes. There’s no time to fool around.” They were helping Jed move into Quincy’s apartment today. Crystal was so excited she could barely stand it. She and Jed had been talking more often since the incident with their mother, and they’d gotten even closer after she’d told him what had happened to her in college. It reminded her of how close they’d been when they were younger. She missed those times. She missed him.
She turned in Bear’s arms, and he lifted her up on the counter, pushing her legs open and claiming his spot in between. She was glad he’d stopped being quite so careful with her.
“All I want is to touch you, sugar.” He nipped at her lower lip, his hands gliding up her bare thighs to the fringe on her shorts.
Harley meowed as she came into the bathroom. She’d grown tall and slender, and Crystal swore she had developed a homing device for Bear’s advances.
“There’s our little cockblocker.”
She felt him smiling against her neck. He loved Harley so much he let her have her own pillow on their bed.
She pushed off the counter and wound her arms around his neck. Guiding his mouth to hers, she kissed him until she felt him go hard.
He groaned against her mouth. God, she loved that. She loved everything about her naughty biker boy. He’d been a happier man since he’d agreed to work for Silver-Stone, and she was looking forward to the days when he was no longer working day and night. But she was even more excited to know his dreams were finally going to come true.
His hands roamed over her. “We just made love this morning, and I’m already having withdrawals.”
She laughed as he kissed her, but she was already right there with him. She’d begun birth control shots, and not having to worry about condoms brought their intimacy and spontaneity to a whole new level. The other night she’d joked about making love on a motorcycle while it was running, and a few days later, in the privacy of their yard, they’d knocked it off her bucket list. Oh, the vibrations!
“Just let me make you come,” he begged.
“Bea—” Her words were smothered in a kiss that lit her up like New Year’s Eve. She’d never tire of the way he made her feel hot and weak at once. “God, your kisses unravel me every time. We have to be fast.”
He kissed her again and pushed his hand into her shorts, teasing over her sex as he took the kiss deeper. She widened her legs, greedy for more. It never took him long to take her up to the edge, but he’d also learned to hold her at the peak until her legs went numb. He took great pleasure in making her come undone for lengths of time that should be illegal. If he did that now, there was no way she’d be able to help Jed move a darn thing.
“If you hurry, I’ll make you come, too,” she enticed.
“Jesus, baby. Like I’d say no to that?”
She unsnapped her shorts, letting them drop to the floor, and quickly undid his jeans, pushing them down his thighs. He quickened his pace.
She held her palm in front of his mouth. “Lick.”
He did, and holy hell, that made her even hotter. She fisted his cock, going up on her toes as his fingers pushed in deep. He took her in a penetrating kiss, matching the rhythm of his fingers, and moments later she was soaring into the clouds. She squeezed him hard as she came, and his hips bucked. As she eased down from the peak, her body still pulsing, she took his hard length in her mouth. Bear buried his hands in her hair—another new and exciting addition to their incredible sex life—sending sparks of lightning sizzling through her. She sucked hard and fast until she felt him swell, and he found his release.
Thump, thump, thump.
Both of their eyes flew open at the sound of Bullet’s heavy footsteps crossing the hardwood floor to the bottom of the stairs. “Bear? You up there?”
“Shit,” Bear grumbled, helping Crystal to her feet. “Be down in a second,” he yelled to Bullet.
Laughing and kissing, they washed up.
“Love you so much,” he said, kissing her shoulder as she stepped into a clean pair of panties and pulled up her shorts.