Untitled Book 2 (25 page)

He's inside me before my back hits the wall.

I
PUSH
into her, burying my face in her neck and gritting my teeth as she squeezes herself around my dick. She tugs on my hair, her sharp little nails digging into my back, but I don't mind one bit. I thrust into her harder when I feel she's about to come, the noises she makes and the way her thighs always tremble is a sure sign.

“Vinnie,” she moans, panting, closing her eyes and saying “Fuck.”

I come just after her, kissing her mouth and letting it catch my moans and grunts of pleasure. I pull back and look at her face after we're done: her sultry yet sated gaze, her swollen lips from my rough kisses, and her messy “just been fucked” hair. She's never looked more beautiful.

“Hi,” she whispers, grinning.

I smile and kiss her lips, softly and sweetly this time, then rest my forehead against hers. I pull out of her, and put her back on the ground. We both make ourselves decent, then sit down on the couch, her head on my chest.

“We should probably go back out,” she says, cringing. “Everyone is going to give us shit, again. We really need to stop doing this. We have no control.”

I laugh and rest my hand on her thigh. “Don't worry about it. There's no judgment here, Shay. Yes, they'll give us shit, but just own it. We're not doing anything wrong. Trust me, if you saw the clubhouse before the women took over . . .” I shake my head as I remember the wild parties, the women, and the public sex . . . the threesomes. . . . We've had some crazy-ass times over the years. A little private fucking is nothing. Everyone here has seen a lot more, but Shay wouldn't know that. I'll bet everyone has fucked in this room at one point or another, it's not even a big deal.

“I'd rather not know,” she says, nudging me with her elbow. “All right, let's go be social. Although I have a lot less energy now than I did before we walked in here.”

We leave the room hand in hand, and head to the bathrooms to clean up. I walk out before her, and assume she's chatting with Lana, who I saw go in there just before her. Back at the bar, I order two bottles of water and glance around the place. Everyone is drinking and having a good time. Shark must have left, along with Trace and Jess, because they're missing.

The reason I don't want to drink tonight is because I want to be ready, just in case. You never know what can happen on any given night, and I don't want to be drunk and out of control if something goes wrong. I want to be on alert and keep an eye on everything and everyone, especially Shay. I'd rather her have a good time, with me watching over her—it's safer that way. The night has gone smoothly so far, and I know I'm being a little paranoid, but I'm also being realistic. We don't really have the
luxury of all of us being able to let loose when shit can go down at any second. It's happened before, and it will happen again. It's a part of the lifestyle, and it's a part of our need to protect everyone we love and care about.

Shay and Lana walk out of the bathroom, then head to the dance floor together. Tracker walks up to me, blue eyes bright with amusement. “You two need a room twenty-four-motherfuckin'-seven, don't you?”

“As if you can talk,” I reply, grinning at him. “How long do you think these women are going to want to stay?”

Tracker looks at his watch. “It's only one a.m., I say until at least four.”

“Fuck me dead,” I utter, opening my bottle of water and taking a long sip.

“You just got laid, don't know what the fuck you're complaining about.”

“Room is free now,” I tell him, nodding my head toward it. “Don't act like you haven't used it before.”

Tracker laughs at that, because we all know that he has, and when he pulls Lana into the room, I make sure Shay sees it, so she can give them shit if they say anything to her. She crooks her finger at me from the dance floor, since her dance partner is now missing. I approach her and hand over the bottle of water.

“Thank you,” she says over the music.

I thought her mouth might be dry, after all the fuckin' amazing head she gave me, but I don't say that to her, I just smile. She finishes half the bottle, puts it down on the closest table, and makes me dance with her. She's so cute when she dances, she gets lost in the music, in her own world. Like she's in her element.

We dance for two more hours before she decides it's time to go home. I'm fuckin' thankful for that, but I never complain, because I know she's having a good time, and this night is for her. We close up the club and leave. I drop Bailey and Tia home, making sure they get inside safely before driving back to the clubhouse. Irish and Tina are in the kitchen when we get there, but I just want a shower and bed, so we don't stay around long to socialize. After a quick shower together, we dry ourselves and get into bed naked, wrapped in each other's arms.

I sleep like a fuckin' baby.

*  *  *

“Are you happy here?” I ask Shay, as we're outside with Colt, playing fetch. She picks up the ball and throws it before answering. “In the clubhouse? Yeah, why?”

“I mean,” I say, trying to word this the best way, “would you be happy living here permanently?”

“Are you asking me to move in with you?” She pauses. “We never really spoke about what will happen after the danger is over—is that what this talk is?”

I was already messing this up.

“What I'm trying to say is, I want you with me, but the clubhouse is my home, and I'm asking if you're okay with living here, or did you want to move into a house somewhere else, like everyone else. I do own a house and land, which I'm renting out right now.”

“But you'd prefer to live here?”

I nod. “Yeah, I would. But what do you want?”

She throws the ball, then turns and gives me all of her attention. “If you want to live here, then I'm happy living here, Vinnie. We never really spoke about us though, and like we've said before, we've kind of always lived together because of our unusual circumstances.”

She looks unsure for a moment, but I have no fuckin' idea why, or where she's going with this.

“What are you saying?”

She looks down at Colt now and pats his head. “I guess I just don't know where your head is at with us. You've never really talked about the future, and now that everything has calmed down, we have the opportunity to make more decisions and find out what we want to do.”

I still have no idea what she's getting at.

“Do you want me?” I ask her, staring her down.

“Yes.”

“And you're happy living at the clubhouse?”

“Yes,” she replies. “But—”

“Then that's all I need to know.”

I cup her face with my hands and kiss her lips. “Don't overthink everything. It's still just you and me against the world, all right?”

“All right,” she whispers, puckering her lips for another kiss, which I give her. “I just think we need to have some talks about the future. I want to finish college and get my degree.”

“Then do it,” I tell her. “You don't have to work if you don't want to, but if you do, then that's up to you. I'm not going to control your life, Shay, unless it comes to your safety. I agree that there's a few things we need to discuss.”

I was putting off telling her that I didn't want marriage or children, because women don't react well to hearing that kind of shit. Maybe she really wanted children, and she'd leave me to find a man who would give that to her. I'd do anything to make her happy, but having a child with her isn't something one just does for the other person. Being a father is a full-time gig that I'm not qualified for. We haven't been together long, but she should know that, even in the future, I don't plan on ever having children or walking down that aisle. What will I do if she leaves? Maybe that means she isn't the one for me. My mind rejects that thought instantly, knowing that it isn't true. I guess I can only tell her and see how she reacts.

But not today.

I
SPEND
the rest of the day with Faye and Clover, while Vinnie goes to Rift to do some work. I wonder if he's going to drop by Toxic to do some work there too.

“Do all the men go to Toxic?” I ask Faye as I help fold the new baby clothes she bought.

“At one point or another, I'd say yes,” she replies, looking up from the baby-blue onesie in her hand. “You need to trust your man, Shay. Do they go to Toxic and have a look at the women? I'm sure they do—as a matter of fact, I know that they do.” She grins. “I've been there before with them. You should ask Vinnie to take you there, you can go see for yourself. They look but don't touch, unless they're single.”

“I don't think Vinnie would cheat,” I admit, sighing. “But you know, in the back of my head is always a part of my brain saying never to completely trust a man.”

“That part of your brain is called your common sense,” she surprises me by saying. “You can't trust all men, and sometimes
even good men mess up. You just have to go with your gut, honey. I think Vinnie is a great man. I've known him for many years.” She lowers her voice. “But you have to handle men in a way they don't know they're being handled.”

I laugh at that. “You're amazing, you know that?”

“I do okay,” she replies, looking over to where Clover is asleep on the bed. “She's so excited to be a big sister.”

“She's such a great kid,” I say, smiling at her sleeping form. “You've done such an amazing job. I'm going to come to you for advice if I ever have children.”

“Aunty Faye will be more than happy to help,” she says, grinning, then studying me. “Now what do you want to talk to me about?”

I open my mouth, then close it. “How did you know that I—”

“I wasn't born yesterday,” she says, cutting me off. “Is everything okay? Tell me.”

So I tell her everything that's been on my mind.

*  *  *

“What on earth are you doing?” I ask Rake, who is looking into the oven like there's a monster in there.

“I'm hungry, so I put something in the oven and now it's burned. And Bailey is at work and isn't here to make me something.”

Seriously?

I blink slowly. “You're spoiled, you know that?”

“What I am is hungry,” he groans, rubbing his abs. How he stays that muscular with the amount he eats I have no idea.

“Do you want to do a food run?” I ask, feeling a little hungry myself.

“Are you allowed to leave the house?” he asks, closing the oven with a slam. “I could go for a burger and fries. Or some fried chicken.”

“I mean, I'm not
not
allowed to leave the house,” I hedge, shrugging and flashing him my best puppy-dog eyes. “I'm just meant to stay hidden a little. I'm sure no one will spot me going through a drive-through.”

“True. Yeah, all right, let's go then.”

“I'll even drive, so you can eat in peace,” I offer, being the kind person that I am, but all he does is laugh.

“Fuck no. I heard how you drive, and I'd like to survive to see my daughter grow up, thank you very much.”

I found it adorable how he calls Cara his daughter, even though she isn't his biologically.

“Fine, you drive then,” I say, rolling my eyes. I'm not that bad a driver, these men are the biggest exaggerators. “Maybe we can go do some shooting practice when we're done?”

“Dying to get out of the house, are we?”

“I'm going to kill someone,” I admit, shoulders sagging. “I've studied, cleaned, and taught Colt every trick I can think of. I also baked cupcakes.”

I continue before he can even open his mouth to ask. “Everyone already ate them.”

“You could save me some next time,” he grumbles, lifting his chin. “Let's go. I'm starting to get hangry.”