Page 48 of Claimed By the Bikers

“Is this what you wanted?” I demand, setting a rhythm that’s rough and claiming and probably too much. “Is this alive enough for you?”

“Yes.” Her nails dig into my shoulders, leaving marks I’ll wear like badges of honor. “This is exactly what I wanted.”

I take her like a man drowning, like she’s the only thing keeping me tethered to the world. And maybe she is. Maybe this fierce, beautiful, dangerous woman is the lifeline I didn’t know I needed.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she whispers when I bury my face in her neck. “I’m not leaving you, Garrett. I’m not disappearing.”

“Promise me.”

“I promise.”

“Say it again.”

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m yours, and I’m staying right here.”

The words push me over the edge, and I come with her name on my lips and her body wrapped around mine like armor against the dark. When the tremors fade, I collapse beside her, pulling her against my chest where I can feel her heartbeat steady and strong.

“Better?” she asks softly.

“Aye.” I press a kiss to the top of her head. “Much better.”

“Good.” She traces patterns on my chest with one finger, idle touches that ground me in the present. “The nightmares won’t stop, you know. Not completely.”

“I know.”

“But they don’t have to control you. And you don’t have to face them alone.”

“I’ve been alone for twenty years.”

“Not anymore.” She tilts her head up to meet my eyes. “You have Atlas and Silas. You have me. We’re your family now, Garrett. Let us help carry the weight.”

“What if I lose you too?”

“Then you’ll survive it, because that’s who you are. But you won’t lose me. I’m too stubborn to die, and too invested in this life we’re building to give up without a fight.”

I study her face in the moonlight, looking for any sign that she’s just telling me what I need to hear. But all I see is truth, steady and unwavering as stone.

“I like you,” I tell her, the words coming easier than I expected.

“I like you too,” she chuckles. “All of you. This strange, complicated, dangerous family that somehow became everything I never knew I wanted.”

“Even though we kidnapped you?”

“Especially because you kidnapped me.” She grins up at me. “Best worst decision you ever made.”

“Second best,” I correct. “Best was deciding to keep you.”

“Good thing, because I’m not going anywhere.”

She says it again, and this time I believe her completely. Believe that this fierce woman, who chose us over everything else in her life, will fight just as hard to stay as we’ll fight to keep her.

The nightmares will come again. The guilt and the fear and the memories of loss that never quite fade. But for the first time in twenty years, I won’t face them alone.

And that makes all the difference.

15

EMBER