Page 12

TEN

DASH

When I open my eyes, we’re in her bed. I didn’t plan on staying over, but when she fell asleep, curled into me like she was holding herself together with threadbare stitches, I couldn’t leave.

I meant to sleep on the couch, but she wanted me close, and I didn’t want to leave her spiralling in her room alone.

She’s wearing my tee, the fabric tangled around her thighs, and fuck, I like that more than the hoodie. Seeing her in my clothes itches that primal part of my brain that wants to make her mine.

I peer down at the top of her head before I press a kiss into her hair. She’s lying on top of me, her legs over mine, her arm pinning me to the bed, like she was worried I’d leave while she slept.

I don’t know how to make her believe I’m not going anywhere. Not now. Not after she took those steps to show me that she is in this.

Her breath fans my throat, warm and steady, soft. This is so different from the version she lets the world see—the version she tried to give me before I chipped at her walls.

Last night she gave me this. She let her guard down. No sass, no fucking sarcasm, just her. Unfiltered, raw, and real.

Just Dayna.

She stood in front of me like she was daring me to gut her all over again—just like everyone else in her life has. All I did was buy dinner, and she looked at me like I’d fucking taken a bullet for her.

I glance around her bedroom, taking everything in.

Her flat’s fucking tiny and falling apart, but her fingerprints are everywhere. Fairy lights hang around the bed frame, and all her furniture is second-hand but painted to look new.

She’s carved out a space for herself in something ugly and created peace.

I trace my fingers down her back, the softness of her skin like silk under my pads. I could lie here forever, but my touch wakes her.

She stirs, just a flutter of lashes, and I wait with my breath trapped in my lungs, desperate to see her eyes.

When they open, she’s foggy and confused until she finds me.

There’s a beat of silence, a moment of disbelief and I know it’s because I’m still here and she didn’t expect it. Then she lifts her head and smiles that fake flick of her lips that I hate.

“If I drooled on you this time, you’ve only got yourself to blame,” she says, quiet and low. “You should have learned from the couch incident.”

It’s a deflection, but I’ll play her game.

For now.

“You’re worse than a Great Dane,” I tease.

This gets a response. Her lips twitch into a real smile as she pats my chest. “I’m revoking your Casanova moniker, Dash. Romance is fucking dead.”

I brush her hair off her face. I don’t care about the bullshit banter. I just want to see her. She’s messy and holding on by a knife’s edge, but she’s fucking beautiful, inside and out.

“I’ll give you hearts and flowers if you want them, babe.”

“I don’t need all that shit. I just need this.” She traces her fingers over my chest and I keep my arm around her back. “Thank you.”

“For?”

“Staying. You didn’t have to.”

“You wanted me here, so I stayed, Dayna.”

She peers up at me and I’m not sure I can read what she’s thinking. “What if I want something else?”

“Anything.”

“What if I want you to kiss me?”

Fuck. My cock feels heavy in my boxers. She’s usually so fucking confident, but the woman lying on me right now is not that Dayna. She’s holding her heart in her hands, waiting for me to take it.

I handle it with care.

“You want to or you think I want you to?”

She doesn’t miss a beat. “I want you too.”

It’s enough. I cup her jaw and brush my lips over hers. Dayna melts into me, her hands on my chest, and when she rocks her hips against mine, that teasing arch of her brow nearly fucking undoes me.

“Shit.” I groan. “Babe, you trying to kill me?”

“There are worse ways to go.”

She directs my hand between her legs, over the soaked cotton against her pussy. “Babe.” Warning cracks through the word, an out, an option to just exist with me without expectation.

“I want this. I want you. I promise this isn’t me thinking this is what you want, though I hope you do.”

I cup her face. “You’re sure?”

She nods. “I want you inside me, Dash.”

Fuck, that might be the hottest thing I’ve ever fucking heard.

I trail my fingers over the damp cotton, through her folds, lazy strokes that has her breath coming a little faster.

My grin sharpens. “You woke up dripping for me, babe?”

She scoffs under her breath before she dips down to press a kiss to the dragon inked on my chest. “I must have been dreaming about another hot biker in my sleep.”

“Brat.”

I nip her bottom lip, punishing, playful, too. She laughs. And fuck, I want to hear that sound on repeat.

She sits up and slips her underwear off, her eyes never leaving mine. I grasp her wrists before she straddles me. “I mean it, Dayna, you don’t owe me anything.”

Her smile is real. “I know.” She glances down at my cock standing to attention between my legs. “Looks like I’m not the only one who’s ready this morning.”

I smirk at her. I’m as hard as steel, ready for her. “I’ll always be ready for you.”

Her smile fades a little, as if my words have torn something open and left her bleeding.

But before I can unpack it, she sits over my hips, her bare pussy pressed against my skin. The heat of her scorches a path that I can’t ignore and my fingers wrap around her hip. I need to touch her, to feel her in my hands.

“You made me feel something,” she says.

“What?”

“Whole.”

She might as well have carved me open.

“You are whole. You’re you. Messy, chaotic, and I’m in fucking awe of you.”

“You say that now. Wait until I’m spiralling at four a.m. and you’re sleep deprived.”

I kiss the inside of her wrist. Slow and soft. “I’d still be in awe and tired.”

My tee rides up her thighs and I want to push it higher, but this is her party. I’m just here for the ride.

“I want to fuck you.” Her words detonate in my gut. “But I don’t want to rush it this time.”

Fuck, she’s going to undo me. “I’m yours, Dayna. Whatever you want to do to me.”

Her brows wiggle, cutting through the tension. “Whatever, huh?” She leans down and kisses where she can reach on my chest, her hands on my ribs. “It’s dangerous to give me free rein, Dash.”

“I trust you.”

Her eyes soften a beat before she kisses my neck. “You shouldn’t.”

She sits back, straddling me and pulls the tee over her head. Her tits are fucking perfect. Full and begging for my mouth, but I don’t move. I let her lead this.

Her hand wraps around my shaft and my hips twitch, and her confidence slips as she flicks her eyes to me.

“This okay?” I nod, not trusting my voice. “You’re sure? It’s not too late to back out.”

“I don’t need to back out, Dayna.”

Her body relaxes as she inches my cock inside her while mine becomes taut. Fuck. It takes all my strength not to spill my load right there.

I squeeze my eyes closed as her tight heat wraps around me. My hand slides up her side to cup her tit. I flick my thumb over her nipple, getting a gasp from her.

“You feel good,” she whispers as she sinks down fully until our bodies are flush.

The little gasps she makes as I fill her from root to stem has my balls squeezing so tight I can hardly breathe.

Her head tips back, her hair cascading down her back like a waterfall of wild tangles.

She’s a fucking goddess and I want to worship every part of her as she circles her hips, driving me deeper inside her. We both pant, but her bottom lip slides between her teeth igniting fire in my blood.

I like her being on top. Like the confidence she has to take what she wants, to be in control of what we’re doing. I also like the access it gives me to her body, and that I can see her face while she comes.

Her nails are in my chest, digging into my skin like she’s trying to anchor herself there. A primal, feral want rises inside me, clawing out of my ribs at the flare of her hips, the softness of her belly and tits.

I take her hands, threading my fingers through hers, our eyes locked she rides me. “Dash.”

There is a desperation behind the way she says my name, not because she is in the moment, but it almost sounds like a plea. Like she’s scared of what we’re doing, of what it means, of what comes next.

I don’t let go of her, even when she tries to pull back a little. “I’ve got you,” I say, dropping those double-edged words.

Her brows twitch, confusion warring with her body for just a second, but it’s enough. She still doesn’t believe this is real, doesn’t think I’m any different from the other pricks she’s been with.

She doesn’t want softness from me. She wants real.

And yet I’m going to give her both.

She’s been hurt.

Never again. Not on my watch.

Still buried inside her, I roll her onto her back. Her eyes are fire as I pin her hands over her head and I give her a bruising kiss. Her chest heaves as our tongues clash, licking inside each other’s mouths.

“Fucking beautiful,” I murmur before I thrust into her, my hips pressing tight to hers as I find my rhythm.

The noises she’s making teeter between soft and feral, broken and fierce. Our mouths part and I let go of her wrists to hook under her hips. She lets out a squeal as I drag her closer and roll my hips to hit that spot inside her that’ll unravel her.

This is perfection because it’s real. It’s raw. It’s her and it’s me.

Her lashes flutter before her eyes close, and her fingers twist in the sheets, as if she’s falling and it’s the only thing keeping her steady.

I run my hand over her belly and press down as I thrust deeper. Her back arches instantly, and she lets out a strangled scream. She tightens around me, and my thrusts stutter as I get closer. I don’t take my eyes off her, watching her lips twitch into a smile as we both ride closer to the edge.

When I finally spill inside her, my breath chokes and spots dance through my vision. Her throat tightens as she cries her own release and takes everything I have when I empty into her waiting pussy.

Fuck. I’m seeing stars as I suck in air that feels so thin it feels it might as well not be there.

My arms turn to jelly and I collapse onto my hands, careful not to crush beneath me.

Her chest is flushed, hitching with every drag of her lungs. Sweat beads on her skin, mine too. I feel wrung out when I flop next her and without asking, I pull her onto my chest.

Neither of us speak for a moment, just trying to calm our bodies.

“That’s one way to do cardio in the morning,” she murmurs eventually, pressing her cheek to my skin.

I brush her hair back from her face, enjoying the peace, the afterglow. “Better than the gym any day.”

She lifts her head off my chest. “No way you’re gym bro.”

I snort. “I’m not,” I agree. “But I think I could get into this exercise routine.”

She settles back against me and I trail my fingers along her shoulder, down her back, her hip and circle around. She’s soft and warm against me.

“Did you know having sex burns more calories than a gym session?”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t know if it’s true, but it sounds good doesn’t it? If you’re going to sweat, at least do it in a fun way.”

This girl… Fuck .

“I’ll be your gym partner any time you want.” I press a kiss into her hair, and she melts into me even more.

I could get used to this.

“You okay?” I ask her.

“Yeah, Dash. I’m… better than okay.”

That eases the tightness in my ribs and I kiss her, needing to feel her against my lips.

We take our time getting up. While she showers and I raid her fridge. There is fuck all in there, other than the takeout containers from last night and a sad looking block of cheese.

I order something to be delivered before making coffee.

Her hair is damp when she steps into the room, wearing my hoodie and leggings that hug her curves in a way that has my hands itching to touch her.

She pauses in the doorway, leaning against the frame. There is no sass, no act when she looks at me, just vulnerability.

“That’s twice now you haven’t disappeared when I left the room.”

“I told you. If I have to go, I’ll fucking be a man and tell you.”

She shakes her head. “Most guys rarely stay after the sex, Dash.”

My jaw grinds together. “First of all, you don’t talk about other men when you’re standing there in my clothes. Second, I’m not like the other guys you’ve been with, Dayna.”

“I’m getting that,” she says softly.

I hand her a mug of freshly brewed coffee when she gets close enough. “Food is on the way. Your fridge is a cry for help, sweetheart.”

The indelicate snort she makes is fucking adorable. “I don’t need to stock up my fridge when I have my knight in leather and denim turning up to feed me, do I?”

I wrap my hand around her nape and her hands rest on my chest. I sweep my thumb under her ear, and watch the tension leave her face.

“I’ll feed you any time you want,” I tell her.

“Feeding me, giving me hoodies… A girl could become dependant on this.”

“You can have my entire fucking wardrobe, Dayna.”

She smiles and that cracks my chest. “I’m pretty sure if I steal anything else of yours I can open my own store. Tall, dark, broody biker attire will fly off the shelves.”

I raise a brow. “You think I’m broody?”

Her hands wrap around my back, holding me tight, as if she’s scared to let go. “I think it kind of comes with the territory. You, Riot, Mace, you’ve all got this mystery grump thing going on.”

My lips twitch. “You make me less grumpy,” I tell her.

“Wait until you have to deal with my 3 a.m. crises and my mother. You’ll soon be back to your default setting.”

I let her slip out of my arms, sensing she needs a moment to breathe. That’s the second time she’s mentioned her mother and not in a flattering light. “Babe, I can handle whatever you throw at me.”

“You say that now, but just wait.”

I don’t need to wait, but I don’t say it. She’s not in a place to hear it, not yet.

But when she is, I’m going to erase every single memory she has of someone making her feel less than.

And then I’ll show her exactly what she is worth.