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“You wanted to protect me, huh?” My entire body is buzzing with her admission. No one has tried to protect me in years. Sure, the club protects the brother, the member… the friend. This is different. This woman barely knows me and her first instinct when shit hits the fan is to put her life in danger… forme.
Fuck. The realization hits hard. The protector being shielded by the survivor, it’s next level.
That being said, it ain’t happenin’.
“Yes. After all you guys have… no.” A tiny frown digs into her brow as she picks at her nail, watching it closely like it holds all of the answers she needs.
“No?” I prompt, mainly to distract myself from how fucking adorable she is.
“No, I mean, yes. Everyone has been so kind and caring, butyou…” This time she lifts her gaze up to mine and holds it without ever letting go. “You, especially, made me feel…makeme feel… like I deserve, I don’t know, to be free, I guess. Staying here feels selfish of me and putting you in danger for my own benefit just seems cruel, you know?”
My fingers dig into a particularly knotted kink in her arch and I take this time to find the words that will help her to understand that none of this will fly with any of us. Least of all, me.
“I’m about to get real with you, Baby Girl.”
“Does that mean you’ve been fake until now?” I have to look up and make sure she’s joking because our everyday expressions are hit and miss with her sometimes. The corner of her mouth is twitching like she’s trying really fucking hard to suppress a grin.
“Funny girl, but I like it. Humor is a good indicator that you feel comfortable so I’mma take that as a win.” The smile that follows lights up my entire fucking world and it’s right there, in that exact moment, that I fall. Hard and quick with no turning back. Goner. Done. “Anyway, here’s the thing: I don’t need protectin’, I’ve got the club. And now you do too so leaving would put us all in danger.” Mostly because I’d lose my fucking mind if I didn’t know where she was and that would put the entire fucking world in peril of me burning it down. It might be a tad too early to tell her all that.
“Okay.”
“Okay?” I heard her but I need her to repeat it.
“Yes, okay. I’ll stay, but I’ve got one condition.” Her gaze lifts from mine and wanders around the living room before coming back to me. “You let me decorate this house for Christmas. I-I’m excited to celebrate it for once, instead of… well, just enduring it. The house where I lived had all these decorations and fancy parties but I wasn’t… it just wasn’t… anyway, your house is stunning but it could use a little more warmth to it. Make it more… you.”
A ball of fire doused in a healthy dose of anger churns in my stomach at her admission. I don’t know much about her past butI’m guessing what she just told me is barely the tip of the iceberg and true horror is buried deep inside her memory. That said, if refurbishing and decorating my house is all it takes for her to stay here, I’ll let her demolish this place and build it right back up to her liking. Although, that would suck because we’d have to sleep at the compound in the meantime and I’m not giving those idiots—that I love and would die for—any fucking fodder.
“Deal. I think I have a box upstairs with decorations in it. One of the few things I have left from my mom.” I shrug, trying to push down the lump that always accompanies the profound sadness I feel when I mention my mama. Fuck, I miss her every damn day and it’s been over ten years now.
While lost in my thoughts, I realize Athena has pulled up her feet and is now crawling over the couch to me, straddling me and holding my cheeks the way I held hers earlier. When she speaks, something inside me shifts.
“She would be so proud of the man you’ve become.” I blink, not sure how she knew I was thinking of mama, yet grateful that I didn’t have to name my pain. “I lost mine, too. I was young, too young to understand most things, but it didn’t take a genius to know I’d never see her again.” My hands slide up her thighs and rest on her hips, fingers holding on for dear life. “I don’t know if she’s still alive, but in my world, women don’t survive very long, especially when they’ve given birth, so I don’t hold high hopes. In fact, I hope she did escape, in any way possible.”
The sadness in her eyes makes my jaw clench and my need to avenge her skyrocket but that’s not what she needs right now. The best thing I can do for her is listen.
“But I escaped and I followed her instructions, so wherever she is, I know she’s proud of me. And you, Bear, everything you are is special.” My body is completely frozen, waiting, hoping she’ll just lean in a few inches and allow me a taste of her parted lips.
“Is this okay?” Fuck me, she’s asking me if I’m okay with her leaning in? Does she for a second believe I won’t lose my fucking mind if she doesn’t get closer? Then it hits me… consent. She probably has never given it and she doesn’t want to take it from someone else.
Fuck.
“Yes, Baby Girl, this is fucking perfect.” At my words, her entire face lights up like the Fourth of July. God bless motherfucking America and I will celebrate her happiness on this day every fucking year.
Every inch she gives me feels like a victory for her. Like she’s discovering freedom and I’m her open door.
“I never curse, Bear, but I like it when you do.” I don’t have time to register her admission because her lips graze mine and the fire on my skin spreads to every inch of me. The burn is so good, bringing me to life in places that have been dormant for so long. All I can move are my fingers as they flex on her hips and bring them flush against mine. “Kiss me. Please.”
Did I say I was done before?
That’s just because I hadn’t yet experienced this, right here. Right now. If it’s all I get of Athena, it’ll be worth every fucking minute of my existence.
“I thought you’d never ask.” With her permission, I bring one hand to the back of her head and take control of the kiss. My lips crash against hers and my tongue slips into her parted mouth, opening the gates of my need for her. When she moans, I get impossibly harder. When she gasps, I swallow her breaths. When she brings her palms to rest against the back of my head, I pray to God that He—or She—won’t ever take Athena away from me.
Time slips away for me, and to be honest, I don’t fucking care. I’d gladly let the world live out there without us for the rest of time if it means kissing this woman forever.
Our hands don’t wander and neither one of us takes it any further than this kiss but somehow it’s enough. With tongues exploring, I sense her trying to rise up on her knees and take a more dominant position so I scooch down on the couch and give her exactly what she wants. Next thing I know, she’s wrapped my head in her forearms, cocooning us within her hold. Our lips never part and I’m not even sure how we’re even breathing at this point but I don’t fucking care. I’ve got this sweet, smart, fucking strong-as-fuck woman in my arms, and she doesn’t know it yet, but I’m going to make her my old lady.
“You taste so good, Bear. Better than anything I’ve ever had in my life.”