Page 11 of Her Feral Biker (Savage Kings MC #6)

LAKE

Annalise sat out the back of my house set in a wooded patch just beyond Jackson Ridge. My place was still within the Savage Kings territory, if only by a mile or two, but the land was mine, and now hers too. Her shop had been rebuilt with the funds the Albanian don deposited into her account.

Despite the amount of times her father contacted her, Annalise wanted nothing to do with him, or the rest of her family, for now. I wasn’t sure if that door would remain shut forever to the rest of them but I’d support her decision to go as slow as she needed for however long.

Right now, she curled on a long sofa seat on the verandah on my house, an artist’s notebook in hand as she made sketches.

The excess funds she received went straight back into her business.

Apparently she’d never told anyone that what she actually wanted to do was design kids clothing, never having been given support of her dream by anyone except the grandparent who left her money to help her start her business in the first place.

For now her shop, redecorated and filled with a mix of clothing from her usual suppliers, also hosted a range of her own designs.

And every day, she smiled a little wider.

She wasn't the only one. I fucking smiled a whole lot more too with her around, and I used the house that hadn’t seen a whole lot of occupancy until she came along either.

But with her here, it was less of a house I bought once to try to help my father sober up until he drank himself to death, and more of a place where I could see a family starting to form.

We just had one more step to go before that could happen, at last in my mind.

I leaned against a wooden post, watching Annalise sketch. Her brow furrowed as she rubbed a line out with her thumb. Hair fell across her face, my jacket that still smelled faintly of smoke no matter how much we aired it draped over her shoulders.

It was something I swore I'd never get used to seeing, but always wanted to see on her.

“Fuck, you’re beautiful,” I murmured, kneeling beside her. I stroked her thighs gently as she drew, knowing she hated being interrupted but unable to help touching her.

“Lake,” she muttered. “I’m so close to being done. Literally, one more line?—”

I closed the sketch pad and tugged it from her hands as she stared up at me. We both knew it was something I’d never done before, stopping her mid sketch.

“What?” Her brow furrowed. “Is something wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong, beautiful. I just needed to say something to you.”

She watched me with wary eyes. “Are you going to kidnap me or stalk me? That's what happened the last time you said something like that, you know.”

I leaned down and pressed my lips to her inner thigh. “I know.”

She sighed and opened for me as I worked my way up her legs. “Oh. You could have said so.”

I drew back, pressing her knees together. “Maybe later, okay?”

“Huh? Why are you stopping?” She peered down at me suspiciously. “That’s not very nice, you know.”

“Sassy thing.” I squeezed her knee and she wriggled for me prettily. “Later, I promise. You gonna sit still for me, princess?” I murmured. She stilled instantly, and I laughed as her cheeks colored. “Perfect.”

“Lake?” Annalise twitched as I reached into my back pocket and brought out a small box. “I don’t need presents.”

“Yeah, but I've owed you this one for a really long time. Longer than I should have taken, and I’m sorry for that.” I tweaked the jacket that sat over her shoulders. “I gave you this one night without asking you, without telling you what it meant.”

“Mmhm, but I love it. And you better not be taking it back too often,” she teased. Her eyes flew wide. “Wait?—”

“No,” I said firmly. “I’m not waiting any longer, princess.

I’ve waited too damn long and you shouldn’t have had to wait.

” I flipped the lip of the box open to expose a brilliant orange sapphire.

“I never did ask you properly, just expected you to be who I needed you to be, princess. I didn’t do this right the first time around.

Hell, there were a lot of things I didn’t do right, but I won’t apologize for anything else.

But I will ask you to marry me, if that’s what you want.

We’ve always been fire together since the first time you looked up and saw me watching you through your window.

And I could still watch you all damn day.

I love everything about you, Annalise. I want you to stay here, with me, make a family.

” I swallowed hard. Be the family with me I didn’t know I needed until you.

I shut my mouth then, finally having run out of words.

She watched me with somber eyes. “That was a big speech.”

“Biggest I've made in a while.”

“What would you do if I said no?” Her eyes twinkled as she looked down at me, though her breaths came fast as she snuggled deeper into my jacket.

A deep growl built in my throat. I beat it back with effort. “The local mafia don already thinks you’re my wife, so you know, no pressure.”

“Oh, none at all,” she agreed, leaning down and resting her lips against mine. “Of course I’ll marry you, Lake. I’d stay without you asking but this is…” She stopped talking for a moment, leaning back. Her chin ducked, her hair falling forward.

I caught her jaw in my hands, balancing the ring box in my fingers. “Princess?” I raised her face to find her eyes glossed in a sheen of tears. “Hey. I didn’t mean to upset you.” I brushed my fingers over her cheeks tenderly. “It’s okay. If there is too much pressure we don’t have to do this.”

She shook her head violently. “No, I want to. I really want to. I didn’t know that until just now. And… I love you.”

I swallowed over a giant lump of my own in my throat as my eyes prickled. “Damn, princess. I don’t think you’ve ever said that before.”

She shivered as I gathered her into my arms, pulling her down onto the veranda floor with me in a tangle of arms and legs. “We— where I grew up, we never said anything like that. I didn’t know how,” she whispered. “But with you, it felt right."

“Christ, princess. That’s the first thing we’re changing. Say it as often or as little as you need. No feelings hurt, I promise.”

I caught her mouth with mine as I slid the ring onto her finger blindly.

It settled over her knuckle and then she straddled me, kissing me hard and fast until we were more than a knot of leather and soft, warm skin.

Her cries echoed through the woods as I made sure she said yes plenty of times for the rest of the afternoon.