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Chapter Two

B urn had managed to get the things Willow had asked for, but when it came to women’s shoes, he was at a loss.

Most of the boots had sky high heels and he wasn’t sure she would want those, not if she was going to ride on the back of his bike—or Crash’s.

He kept looking, but nothing seemed right.

Finally, he gave up and checked out with the clothing items. He’d just have to go to an actual shoe store for what he wanted, or rather, what he thought Willow needed.

Once he had the bags stashed on the floorboard of the truck he’d borrowed, he drove to the only shoe store he knew of in town.

What he really needed was the Harley-Davidson shop two towns over, but it was so late there was no way they’d be open when he got there.

But now that he knew what size Willow wore, he could surprise her with a pair at any time. Maybe even a Harley tee.

At the shoe store, he told the sales associate what he was looking for and the woman was happy to help.

Perhaps a little too happy, with her light touches and flirtatious smile.

He finally had to mention a girlfriend to get her to back off.

He bought the boots, then hauled ass back to the clubhouse, anxious to check on Willow.

Not that he thought anything would happen to her while Crash was watching over her.

He trusted his twin completely to keep their woman safe.

Burn parked the truck, gathered the sacks, and then entered the clubhouse, tossing the truck keys to the Prospect behind the bar.

The door to their room was shut and he cautiously opened it, not wanting his M.C.

brothers to get an eyeful of their woman.

He only saw Crash, sitting on the end of the bed watching TV, until he moved further into the room.

As he shut the door, he turned and got an eyeful of Willow sleeping in the middle of the bed.

She’d either never pulled up the covers or had kicked them off and her long, bare legs were something to behold.

“She been out long?” Burn asked.

“About twenty minutes. I was going to feed her before she went to sleep, but I guess she was too exhausted. I can’t even imagine what she’s been through today. The fire had to drag her down. Hell, we probably should have called doc to listen to her lungs and make sure she was okay.”

“If she’s coughing tomorrow, we’ll give him a call.

Something tells me she won’t want someone poking and prodding at her right now.

Not after everything she’s been through.

Hell, just thinking about what those assholes did to her makes me want to hunt down the ones who escaped and torture the shit out of them. ”

“At least they didn’t molest her.”

Burn snorted. “That she’s admitted. For all we know, they were all hands with her. I believe her though when she says she wasn’t raped. I just don’t believe for one minute that they never copped a feel.”

Crash turned to watch her. “Well, all that’s over now.

She’s ours, even if she doesn’t realize it yet.

I know she may need some time to sort things out in her mind, but really, what other choice does she have?

You heard Blitz. She can’t roam free, and if she’s in the club, and she doesn’t belong to anyone, that makes her fair game for everyone. I don’t see her choosing that option.”

“Me neither. Let’s just show her that she can trust us, that we’re going to put her first, and see where things go. I know we haven’t been actively seeking a mate, but I think she’s definitely the one.”

“You felt the spark too?”

Burn nodded.

“I guess we’ll just have to be very persuasive.” Crash grinned. “Just imagine… she’s never been kissed, never been held. Hell, I have a feeling she’s never had an orgasm, because I doubt she was left alone where she could pleasure herself.”

“Well,” Burn looked at her, “we could start with the holding part. Why don’t you switch off the TV and we’ll climb into bed. If we cuddle her between us; do you think she’ll scream when she wakes up?”

“I think she trusts us enough not to, unless she doesn’t remember where she is when she wakes, which is a possibility.”

Burn tucked the shopping bags under the desk and began stripping. When he’d gotten down to his underwear, he paused. “Maybe we should wear those pajama pants Ma sent for Christmas. Think she saw this coming and knew we might need them?”

“With Ma, anything is possible. But yeah, I think those pants would be a good idea. I don’t want to move too fast with Willow, but I don’t want to move at a snail’s pace either.

We need to find a way to gain more of her trust and get her to understand that her best shot at survival, and a happy life, is to choose us. ”

“We’ll work on that tomorrow.” Burn pulled out the two pairs of pajama pants and tossed one to Crash. “I don’t know about you, but I’m kind of psyched that this is our first night with our mate.”

Crash smiled. “She’s perfect, isn’t she?”

They both looked at Willow. Her hair fanned across Burn’s pillow and her hands were tucked under her chin as she curled onto her side, facing Crash’s side of the bed.

She looked so damn sweet and innocent lying there, and despite the fact she’d lived her life around M.C.

’s, she really was sweet and innocent. She’d never had a childhood to speak of and hadn’t been allowed to fully change into an adult. She was stuck somewhere in between.

Burn finished changing first and slid into bed, lying on his side and pulling Willow back against his chest. Crash turned off the TV and shut off the light, then claimed the other side of the bed.

Crash smoothed her hair back from her face and lightly kissed her cheek before lying on the pillow next to her.

Crash placed his hand on her hip and Burn wrapped an arm around her waist. With their mate secure between them, Burn felt the tension ease from his shoulders, his muscles relax along his spine, and for the first time in his life, he was truly content.

Hell, he knew things could blow up in their faces, and she could opt not to be their mate, but deep down he knew she belonged to them.

It wasn’t just her touch, but her scent.

Even under the smoky smell, he’d been enthralled with her scent, had wanted to bury his face against her neck and just inhale.

He remembered watching their father do that to their mother, and figured it was just a tiger shifter thing.

“Hey, Burn?”

“Yeah, Crash?”

“Think she’ll let us keep her?”

Burn smiled. “I’m sure as hell hoping so. She feels pretty damn perfect lying here between us, doesn’t she?”

“Yeah. You get the feeling that everything is right in our world?”

“You mean that relaxed, contented feeling? Yeah, I’m feeling it. Hell. If she turns us away, I don’t know what we’ll do. I can tell by your tone that you’re already getting attached, and so am I. I think I may have bonded to her the moment I smelled her.”

“It felt pretty incredible to have her on the back of my bike tonight. I know she was scared, and she probably still is, but I don’t think I can let her go.”

“Then we won’t. When it comes time for her to make a decision, we won’t take no for an answer. Hell, we’re shifters and bikers, since when do we wait and see what someone else wants? We don’t! We take what we want and to hell with everyone else.”

Crash chuckled.

“Get some sleep, bro. I have a feeling tomorrow will be intense. Blitz is going to want to go after those creeps that escaped tonight. And I’m with him. I don’t want them coming after Willow.”

“Me neither. Maybe one of us should volunteer to ride with him and the other stay to guard Willow.”

Burn snorted. “Do you honestly think Blitz is going to let us do that? No. He’s going to want both our asses on the hunt.

He’ll probably assign Prospects to watch over her, which I’m not too thrilled about.

Maybe we can at least get him to leave someone behind.

Hell, if Blaze will bring Luna here for safe keeping, then I know Blitz will assign someone to guard duty. ”

“We’ll discuss it with him tomorrow. Night, Burn.”

“Night, Crash.”

Burn buried his nose in Willow’s hair and sniffed.

Damn, but she smelt good! Whatever she’d washed with only seemed to enhance that delicious scent that rolled off her.

Her scent reminded him of Christmas: sugar cookies, peppermint, and pine.

It figured his mate would remind him of his favorite holiday.

He wondered if Crash smelled the same thing, or if she reminded him of something else.

Closing his eyes, he forced his mind to slow so that he could get some rest. Even as he relaxed more, he was hyper-aware of Willow lying in his arms. He hoped like hell they got to fall asleep like this every night for the rest of their lives.

He’d never wanted a mate so much before, but Willow was worth the life sentence to one woman.