Page 9

Knuckles

Every muscle in my body strained to hold back, to not come the second I pulled out of Hannah’s tight cunt and drove back inside her again. Jesus Christ, it was like nothing I’d ever felt before! Her slick walls gripped me, her legs wrapped around my waist, her soft gasps in my ear… It took everything I had not to lose my fucking mind.

I’d been with women before. Plenty of them. Even in prison I’d had more than one woman on the inside offer herself to me before Beth. But this was different. This was Hannah. I think I knew the second I saw her there would never be another woman for me, but being inside her now? Yeah. She was it. This was where I was supposed to be. Inside this beautiful, courageous, reckless woman who was all mine.

“Knuckles,” she whispered, her nails digging into my shoulders. “Please move. Fuck me like you need to.” She nipped my earlobe in encouragement. “I promise I won’t break.”

I’d been so focused on not coming like some teenage virgin that I’d forgotten to actually fuck her. I pulled back slowly again, watching her face for any sign of discomfort, then thrust forward, setting a steady rhythm that had her arching beneath me.

“Fuck,” I growled, dropping my head to her shoulder. “You feel so Goddamn good.”

Her pussy clenched around me with every thrust, drawing me deeper, making me want to mark her, claim her, make her mine in every way possible. The sounds she made were like a drug I needed more of. I needed to hear her like this on a constant loop, to know I was the one who made her make those sounds.

Fuck me. Fuck me. Fuck me .

The words kept repeating in my head like a goddamned mantra as I fucked Hannah. Her tight, wet heat gripped my cock like a velvet vice, threatening to undo me with each thrust. Being inside Hannah was like coming home. As I relaxed into the sensations her body created within me, I settled. Felt more… centered. Knowing she was now mine, that she was now mine to pleasure, to take pleasure from, and, most of all, to protect like a rabid dragon guarding his treasure. Because that’s exactly what I was.

I tried to keep my pace steady, to make this good for her, but the way she responded to every touch, every thrust, made it difficult to maintain control. Her nails dug into my shoulders, her back arched to take me deeper, and fuck if that didn’t make me even harder inside her.

“Knuckles,” she gasped, my name on her lips sounding like a prayer. “I’m gonna come…”

I shifted my weight to one arm, using my free hand to slide between our bodies until I found her clit. The second my fingers made contact, she cried out, her inner walls clenching around me so tightly I had to grit my teeth to keep from following her. Her pussy milked and squeezed mercilessly, drawing me deeper inside, tempting me to dump my entire load of cum inside her. To breed her. Make as many ties to her as I possibly could so she’d never leave me.

“Fuck! Hannah!” I screamed her name as my back bowed and I bellowed to the rafters. My release hit me like a freight train, my hips jerking against hers as I emptied myself inside the condom. My entire body shuddered with the force of the orgasm that hit me. Spots danced in my vision as I collapsed on top of her, barely catching myself on my forearms to avoid crushing her.

Hannah’s body trembled beneath mine, her inner walls squeezing me with aftershocks. I buried my face in her neck, inhaling her scent of sweat and sex and something uniquely Hannah.

Her body bowed off the bed, her pussy clenching rhythmically around me as she screamed, holding nothing back. The sight of her coming undone was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. Her lips parted, eyes unfocused, cheeks flushed… She was utterly magnificent.

For several long moments, neither of us spoke. I could feel her heart hammering against my chest, her breath coming in short gasps that matched my own. When I finally found the strength to lift my head, she was watching me with an expression I couldn’t quite read. Something between wonder and fear, maybe?

“Jesus fuckin’ Christ,” I muttered against her skin, feeling her pulse flutter beneath my lips. “You’re fuckin’ amazing. You OK?”

She nodded slowly. “I’m… yeah. I’m good. Wonderful, actually.” She gave me a tentative smile. “That was --”

“Fuckin’ intense.” I finished her sentence. Then she smiled. A wonderful, glorious, beautiful smile. And I… was… done . “You’re so fuckin’ perfect,” I whispered. I hadn’t meant to say the words out loud, but I would never take them back. They were the fucking truth.

She finally relaxed completely beneath me, her fingers tracing lazy patterns on my back. “Not so bad yourself -- for an old man.”

I lifted my head to look at her, finding her eyes sparkling with mischief despite the exhaustion evident on her face. “Old man, huh? Give me five minutes and I’ll show you what this old man can do.”

She laughed, the sound warming something deep inside me. I eased out of her carefully, dealing with the condom before pulling her against me. She came willingly, curling into my side like she belonged there. And she did.

“You know this changes things,” I said after a few minutes of comfortable silence. “Between us.”

“I figured as much when you started talking shit about claiming me.” Her voice was light, but I could hear the uncertainty hovering.

I scowled at her. “That ain’t just talk, woman. You’re mine and I’ll kill any motherfucker who says otherwise.” Her expression shifted, then. She closed part of herself off from me, and everything inside me rebelled. I never wanted secrets between us. Nothing. But especially not her feelings. “Hannah?” I tilted my head, giving her my best “don’t fuck with me” expression. “Don’t shut me out. I’m an idiot when it comes to women and feelings and shit, but I never want to hurt you in any way, so you’re gonna have to tell me what’s goin’ on in the beautiful head of yours.”

She glanced away. Her throat worked as she swallowed several times. “This whole ‘claiming me’ bit.” She cleared her throat but didn’t continue.

“Honey, say what you gotta say.” I stroked damp hair away from her face. My hands were scarred, tattooed and rough. Her skin was… not. She was so soft and delicate, yet the fine muscles in her body spoke of her strength. The fact she’d hunted men who hurt women, deliberately putting herself in a position to be hurt, knowing from the beginning she intended to get hurt, told me all I needed to know about her core strength. Hannah was the perfect old lady for an ex-con biker like me. She’d need every ounce of that strength to be by my side.

Hannah bit her lip, then met my gaze. “I need to know if this ‘claiming’ business is just some kind of possessive biker thing like it is at home, or if there’s more to it. I’ll wear a property patch because I know it’s as much for my protection as it is to let the world know I’m yours. But I’m not interested in being anyone’s property.” She looked away as if she thought this was a deal breaker. Almost as if she expected me to be a bastard. I’ll admit, before I met Hannah, the only reason I’d have taken an old lady would have been to seal an alliance I desperately needed. Before . Now? I didn’t care if my whole club burnt down around me. I would protect Hannah with my Goddamned life and consider death my ultimate service to her. “I’ve spent too long fighting for others to let myself be owned.”

I cupped her face, my thumb tracing her cheekbone. “Baby girl, I don’t want to own you. I want to belong to you as much as I want you to belong to me. I want you by my side. It means I got your back, always, the same way I expect you to have mine. It means I’m yours and you’re mine, and we protect what’s ours.” I held her gaze steadily. “It ain’t about possession. It’s about partnership.”

“You promise.” She made it a demand. “Because I will go my own way when I don’t agree with you. I didn’t go against Gunnar when I knew he was making the wrong decision, and I will never put myself or anyone I love in that position again. I understand why he felt he needed to protect me, and I’m more grateful than I could ever express to him. But I’m never doing that again, Knuckles. I don’t care how angry you get.”

“Honey, our dynamic is different. You know that. Like I said, we’re partners.”

“Partners,” she echoed, testing the word.

“Yeah. And there’s trust. I trust you with my life, Hannah. I want to be the person you trust with yours.” I pulled her to me for a soft kiss, sealing the deal. “Anything else you have reservations about or need clarification for?”

“I don’t want to be one woman in a revolving door of club whores.” She stuck her chin up as if she expected pushback on this. I just smiled. God, this woman was fierce. So fucking perfect for me it was scary. I had to chuckle, which got her back up. When I didn’t immediately respond she narrowed her eyes and snapped, “What?” I loved the bite of demand in her voice, in the scowl on her face. “There’s nothing Goddamned funny about it!”

“Honey…” I continued to grin at her. I knew I was about to get into trouble, but I couldn’t seem to help myself. “How do you expect the club whores to just walk away from this total package?” I gestured to my body, then to my cock which gave an interested jerk. Not at the thought of the club whores, though. I found myself holding my breath, waiting for the explosion that was about to hit me. This was going to be epic. I was a sadistic bastard for looking forward to the fireworks.

Her eyes narrowed dangerously, her jaw clenching so hard I thought she might crack a tooth. For a split second, I thought she might hit me, and part of me was looking forward to it. As evidenced by the excited jerk of my cock once again, the bastard.

“You think this is funny?” Hannah’s voice was deadly quiet as she leaned up, the sheet falling away from her naked body. If looks could kill, I’d be a dead motherfucker right now. “You arrogant, self-important asshole!” She shoved at my chest hard enough that I had trouble holding on to her. “Is this a fucking joke to you? Because I’m not laughing! You think I’m gonna sit by while you fuck everything in sight?”

I shrugged, knowing I was gonna pay for this later. “I mean, I’ve been in prison more than twenty years. I’m kinda hard up.”

She scrambled to sit straighter, trying to put some distance between us as she pulled the sheet around her like armor, her cheeks flushed with anger. The sight was glorious! All that righteous fury directed at me was what I thought it would look like gazing at a Valkyrie. I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face, which only seemed to infuriate her more. It was a little disturbing to know how much I loved the vicious side of her.

She hit my chest none too gently, pushing herself away from me. I kept my expression neutral, though inside I was grinning like a fool. This woman was magnificent when she was angry. “No. I think you’re a woman who knows exactly what she wants and isn’t afraid to take it.”

“Then why the hell are you laughing at me?” Lord, my cock now pointed due north, sniffing around her pussy like a dog scenting a bitch in heat. I loved this fire inside her. Stirring those embers into a raging inferno was going to be the highlight of my day.

I reached for her, but she jerked away, her eyes flashing with hurt and anger. Shit. Maybe I’d pushed too far. “I’m not laughing at you, Hannah, honey. I’m laughing because the thought of me wanting anyone else after having you is fucking ridiculous.” I sat up too, making sure she could see my face clearly. “There are no club whores or any other women for me. There’s just you. Only you. Always. You .”

She studied my face, searching for any sign of deception. “You’re serious.”

I grinned again. “You think I wouldn’t be?”

When she rolled her eyes, I could actually see the tension leave her body. “Well, I’ll try not to bring home any wayward prospects if you can’t get it up.”

I barked out a startled laugh. “You keep givin’ as good as you get, baby. That’s what I want from you.”

Her expression relaxed, and she smiled at me for a moment before it slipped from her face. “I don’t know If I can be what you need, Knuckles.” Her whispered words reflected the emotion swirling in her beautiful eyes. “I’m broken in ways I don’t even understand.”

“Ain’t we all?” I traced the curve of her cheek with my thumb. “I spent years in a cage. You think I came out whole? We’re all fucked up in our own ways. That don’t mean we can’t fit together. Maybe the way to fix each other is to not worry about filling in the missing pieces of our souls. Maybe those missing pieces of you are inside me. Maybe what I’m missing is with you. Together, I think we can be whole again.”

Something softened in her eyes. “And what if I want to keep hunting? Not alone,” she added quickly, seeing my expression darken. “But what if I still need to do this?”

I considered her question, knowing my answer might send her running if I answered wrong. “I’ll never hold you back unless the risk is unacceptable. But you will do it with extensive planning, with me always in the background protecting you. And me. We do this together or not at all.”

“I can live with that.”

“And you ain’t lettin’ any of those bastards touch you. Never again. I absolutely will not bend on this.”

“I figured.” She leaned in and kissed me. I think both of us needed the physical contact. I hadn’t had anything other than stolen moments with any of the female guards or nurses on the inside. I’d only been with a couple club whores since I came home.

“I need to ask you something, Hannah.”

Her expression was guarded, like she sensed a trap but couldn’t see it. “What is it?”

“Have you been with a man other than the men you’ve hunted?”

She stiffened, but didn’t pull away. “Why do you want to know that?”

“Because I think you’re as starved for pleasurable physical stimulation as I am.”

I wasn’t sure she was going to answer me at first, but she surrendered the knowledge even if it was a little grudgingly. “No. There was never time. Besides, the sex I experienced wasn’t something I wanted to repeat willingly.”

“Why did you let me kiss you?”

Again, I didn’t think she’d answer. The pause was longer this time, and I thought she might be weighing her options. I already knew she couldn’t lie worth a damn so I was confident I could tell if she made something up.

Finally, she sighed, shaking her head. “Beats the hell outta me.” She laid her arm over my chest and rested her cheek just above my heart. “You were different. When you pulled Dillon off me in the club, you were so angry. But not at me. At Dillon, because he was hurting me.”

“Honey, angry don’t even cover it.”

“I know. I could tell in the raging bellow you let loose just before you beat the shit outta him.”

“Didn’t beat the shit outta him. If I had, I’d be in jail again. ’Cause I’d’ve killed the son of a bitch.”

She kissed my skin, and I felt her smile against me. “It’s not like you were gonna let him live anyway.”

“No, but I always prefer no witnesses. Easier to dodge a murder charge that way.”

That got a laugh from her. “Yeah. I guess it would.”

“So, we good?” I held her gaze, letting her make the decision. Slowly, she lay back down, draping her body over mine.

“We’re good,” she murmured, nestling against me. “But I have one more question.”

I tensed slightly, wondering what else she needed to know. “Shoot.”

“This room.” She gestured around the bare studio apartment. “What is this? You live here?”

I relaxed, running my fingers through her soft curls. “Just a place to crash. We all have one in the compound. Our own space.” I looked around at my room. It had everything a person could need, but it was sparse. “Ain’t had time to do more than get a bed and a couch. Thought we’d take one of the bigger apartments on the upper level in Gunnar’s warehouse or one like it. All the buildings have them, but no one uses them.” I snorted. “We always thought they were too comfortable, and we were manly men.”

“Then why make them in the first place? If you all stay in the smaller rooms.”

“That was Torpedo.” I scowled. “Bastard said all the warehouses were empty and the club had money to burn, so he made fancy schmancy apartments on the top of all of ’em. Said someday ” -- I rolled my eyes -- “we’d find women we wanted to spoil. I said any woman who wanted to settle down with a fuckin’ biker needed to learn to live like a biker, to which he laughed in my face. Then Ambrosia, his woman, gave me ‘the look.’”

“Ah. I get it.”

“You do?” I narrowed my gaze at her. “What exactly do you get?”

She rolled over and stretched, her breasts on full display. Those beautifully puckered nipples pointed straight up, and I couldn’t help myself. I rolled over to take one ripe peak into my mouth and sucked. I groaned around her breast, my cock pulsing against her thigh.

“All the old ladies at Bones have ‘the look’ in their arsenal. They take us aside when we find the man they think we’re gonna end up with and teach us how to do ‘the look.’”

“The one that says ‘ain’t you adorable, little fucker?’”

She burst out laughing. “Yeah. That’s the very one.” She snuggled in closer, took a deep breath, then let it out in a contented sigh.

“There are things we still need to talk about,” I said, my voice low. “But they can wait.”

“Mmm,” she hummed against my skin. “Good, because I don’t think I can form coherent thoughts right now.” She stretched before settling down again.

My chuckle rumbled deep in the quiet of the room. “Did I fuck your brains out, baby girl?”

“Don’t get cocky,” she muttered, but I could hear the smile in her voice. “Though… yes. You absolutely did.”

I pressed a kiss to the top of her head, breathing in the scent of her hair. The anger that had been simmering inside me since I saw Dillon hit her was finally quieting, replaced by something else. Something I wasn’t ready to name yet but recognized all the same.

We lay in comfortable silence for a while, my hand stroking her back up and down. I felt her breathing even out, her body growing heavier against mine. Just when I thought she might have drifted off, she spoke again.

“What happens when Gunnar finds out?”

I chuckled, the sound rumbling through my chest. “He’s gonna be pissed as hell. Might try to take my head off.” I kissed the top of her head. “Worth it. So fuckin’ worth it.”