Page 11 of Marked by the Protective Biker (Heat & Ink)

FELON

I’ve been on edge since I left Emily’s house last night. I thought I would feel better once I got the call from the prison that the asshole had been dealt with, but I’m still at odds with everything.

I fucked up last night. I shouldn’t have stayed for dinner, and I shouldn’t have touched Emily. I wanted her before, but now that I’ve had her, there’s no turning back. There’s no way I can stay away from her, even knowing that she deserves more than anything I can offer her.

I pause on the tattoo I’m working on and sit up, stretching my back. I’ve been working all day, taking appointments and even filling time with walk-ins because I wanted to stay busy. Hell, I’m going to work myself to death to try and keep my distance from the woman that is filling my dreams.

“Almost done,” I tell the client. I set down my gun and grab the supplies to clean it up and put on the ink sac.

I’m just finishing when my phone dings.

The client is inspecting his tattoo in the mirror, and I glance at my phone.

It’s a text from Alice. I open it and clutch the phone in a death grip.

Staring back at me is a picture of Alice and Emily, and by looking at their surroundings, they are at the clubhouse.

My friends, my brothers are in the background, and they all seem happy and having a good time.

I pocket my phone. “Get out.”

The client looks at me, surprised. “What? But I need to pay?—”

I cut him off. “It’s free. Get out. I gotta go.”

I hustle him through the building. Gunner’s light is off, so I know he’s gone. Boss and Lexi were off today, so I know I'm here alone. As soon as I get the guy out the front door, I lock up, stride to my bike, and get on.

I get to the clubhouse in record time, and I feel like I’m about to suffocate. Emily is at the club, my club. These guys have good intentions, and they’re good guys, but they’re also a little rough around the edges. Emily doesn’t belong here… especially without me.

I park my bike, and as I push through the double doors of the clubhouse, it takes me just a second to find Emily in the mass of tattoos, leather, and bikers.

I thought seeing her would calm me, but my heart races even harder.

She’s standing behind the bar, pouring drinks, laughing and cutting up with the men around her.

I don’t stop until I’ve muscled my way up to her, and in front of everyone, I demand, “What the fuck are you doing here?”

It’s not until the words are out of my mouth that I think about how awful they sound.

Seeing the hurt on Emily’s face feels like a punch in the gut.

She recovers quickly, though. “I’m hanging out with my new friend, Alice.

” I look over at Alice, and she’s looking at me like she’s about to kick my ass.

Emily holds up the bottle she’s holding. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m making Rooster here a slippery nipple.”

I glare at Rooster. Of course, he can’t just drink a Jack and Coke or something easy. He’s always getting people to make him mixed drinks. “Rooster.” I grunt at him.

He shrugs, acting all innocent. “What? She said she bartended in college. She’s the only one here that knows how to make a drink that doesn’t taste like pure ass.”

I look back to Emily, and she’s avoiding my gaze. I know I fucked up, and hell, I’ve done it more than once with her. I walk around the bar. “Emily.”

She ignores me and keeps pouring drinks. I can feel all eyes on us, and I move in front of Emily. “Em, baby, I’m sorry.”

There’s a gasp behind me, and I’m sure it’s because none of these fuckers have heard those words on my lips before.

She tilts her head and looks up at me. “I’ve heard that from you before, Jack Felon, and I wasn’t impressed then. What exactly are you sorry for this time?”

When I pause, she puts a hand on her hip. “I mean, are you sorry for fucking me and then ghosting me?” There’s a collective gasp from everyone behind me, and I know I’m going to hear about this shit later, but Emily continues. “Or are you sorry for disrespecting me in front of your friends or?—”

I cut her off. “I’m sorry for all of it.”

She laughs. “Fine, whatever. I’m in the middle of something.”

I blow out a breath. My hands are fisted at my sides because it’s killing me not to touch her. “Let me make it up to you.”

Her eyes sparkle, and she doesn’t have to say a word because I can see she’s already forgiven me. “How exactly do you plan on doing that?”

I’ve been hard since I first laid eyes on her in here, but my cock stretches as she flirts with me. “I have ideas.”

She steps up next to me and finishes the drink she was working on and sets it down in front of Rooster. “All right, guys, I’ll be back.”

“No.” A few of them moan, and she laughs. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back.” She looks up at me. “Right?”

I put my hands at her waist. “You’re going to be busy for the rest of the night, but yeah, you’ll definitely be back.”

Before she can stop me, I pick her up and throw her over my shoulder. The guys all cheer as I stalk through the clubhouse, down the hallway and kick my bedroom door open with my boot. It’s not until I’m inside that I realize my mistake.

“Shit,” I mutter.

I freeze as I look around my room.

I’m about to turn around when Emily struggles to get out of my arms. She stands stiffly in front of me and looks up at me with a worried glance. “So help me, Jack Felon, if I turn around and there’s a half-naked woman on your bed, I’m outta here.”

I look behind her, and a part of me thinks that she’s going to freak out even more when she sees what’s behind her. “There’s not a naked woman behind you, and just so we’re clear, you’re the only naked woman I want to see.”

She puts her hands at my waist. “Okay, well, you’re freaking me out here. What is it?”

I put my hands on her shoulders and hold her to me. “Maybe we should go somewhere?—”

She cuts me off. “Jack, what is it?”

When I don’t answer her, she shakes her head. “Trust me, it can’t be as bad as I’m thinking.”

I take a deep breath. “What are you thinking?”

She bites her lip. “Well, let’s see, posters of naked women.”

I roll my eyes. “I’m not fourteen.”

She laughs. “Okay, well, I dunno, but the way you’re acting is freaking me out, so I’m going to turn around and look.”

My silence doesn’t reassure her any, but she starts to turn around, and I stop her. “Look, all I’m asking is when you see it, don’t run out of here.”

Her eyes get big, and I keep talking. “I mean, let me explain.”

She looks at me for a full twenty seconds and then slowly releases me and turns around.

I try to look at my room through her eyes.

The bed is queen sized and takes up the majority of the space.

The dresser in the corner is a dark wood, and the full-length mirror is opposite us.

I stare at her as she looks at all my secrets.

Her hand goes to her mouth, and she stares at the room in awe.

I circle around and look at her, feeling panicked. Is she going to run? I can’t blame her if she does. “Em, listen to me.”

She points at the wall behind me. “Jack…”

I clench my eyes shut, ready for her to freak out. When she says nothing, I open my eyes, surprised that she’s not upset, she’s in awe. “Jack, you have pictures of me on your wall.”

She slides around me and walks over to the dresser.

She’s taking it all in, and as she moves around the room, I look at the images.

There are pictures of her at work. Some of them are grainy because I paid people to take them off the security cameras at the prison.

There’s a few of her working in her garden because I had one of the cherries take her picture for me.

The walls, dresser, and nightstand are full of framed images of her.

“Emily, let me explain. I know this looks bad.”

She turns and looks up at me. “You like me.”

Stunned, I suck in a breath. That’s what she gets from this? I blurt out, “I more than fuckin’ like you, Emily Riles. You’re a part of me. I think about you every day all day. Hell, the sun doesn’t shine for me until I get to see your smile each day.”

She walks over and tilts her head back to look at me.

“But you said we can’t be together. You said last night could only be that…

one night.” She shakes her head like she doesn’t believe what she’s seeing.

“You acted like… I meant nothing to you, like walking away from me was the easiest thing you’ve ever done. ”

I move away from her before I can touch her. “It wasn’t.”

She opens her mouth and then closes it. She throws an arm up. “So what about now? You still sticking with one night and no future?”

I hesitate. Slowly, I’m coming to terms with the fact that I can’t just let her go, but that doesn’t mean we can just be together. I shake my head slowly. “Emily…”

She must hear it in my voice because she huffs out a breath. “This was stupid. I don’t know why I thought I could talk any sense into you.” She walks to the door. “Can you take me to my car, Jack?”

“Emily, listen to me. We should talk.”

She blows out a breath, and she sounds completely defeated. “I don’t want to sit here and listen to you talk about why we can’t be together. I’d like to go.”

I want to tell her no. I want to lock her here in my bedroom and never let her go, but I would never do that. No matter how much I want to. “Okay, come on, I’ll take you.”

I open the door, and as she steps out, I look at the room, and for the first time, I regret every picture I have hanging of her here. I’m sure this has freaked her out.

I take her out the back way, and we walk around the building in silence. We walk up to my bike, and I sit down, sliding to the front so she can get on behind me.

She points at my bike. “I’m not getting on that.”

I hang my head. “Emily, get on.”

She bites her lip and shakes her head. “Jack, I’ve never been on a bike before.”

“Do you trust me, Em?”

She stomps her foot and then climbs onto the back of my bike. She’s mumbling under her breath, but I hear everything she says. “You keep asking me that. I think it’s obvious I trust you. You’re the one that should have to answer that question, bud.”

I smile, and it’s good she’s behind me because I don’t think she’d want to see me smirking. I turn to the side to look at her. “Put your arms around my waist.”

She does it grudgingly. Her hold is light, and I have to tell her to grip me harder. “Tighter, Em.”

She wraps her arms around me, pressing her breasts against my back. I put my hands behind me, grip her thighs, and pull her closer to me.

With one hand on her hip, I give her instructions. “Hold on to me and lean when I lean.”

She grips me tighter, and I start my bike. The roar of the engine just intensifies everything, and I tell her again to hold on and pull out of the lot. I hold on to her thigh, and I swear she burrows her body into me. If I could bottle this moment to relive over and over, I would do it.

For the first time, I wish the ride to Heat & Ink was longer. As I pull into the parking lot, next to Emily’s car, dread sets in. I don’t want tonight to end. Not like this.

As soon as I park, Emily lifts her head off my back. “Thanks, Jack.” She is about to leave and then stops and turns back to me. “Oh, yeah, thanks for looking out for me, but Jack, you can’t do what you did. If anyone knew you had anything to do with it, you’ll end up right back in prison.”

I turn my bike off and stand up. “No one is messing with you, Emily.”

She wants to argue with me, but she nods her head. “Okay, well, I appreciate you, but I don’t want you to get in trouble because of me.”

“Emily—” I start, but she’s shaking her head.

“Nope. It’s fine. I’m going to go.”

“Stay,” I command. I step toward her. “I mean…” I point at the building behind us. “Stay, let me give you a tattoo.”

She looks at Heat & Ink. “What?”

I jut my chin at her. In my head, I’ve thought about tattooing her before, but I never thought it would be possible. But right now, I don’t want to let her go. “Let me mark you. You said you wanted a tattoo but didn’t know what to get.”

She crosses her arms over her chest. “I still don’t know what I would get.”

“I know what I would give you.”

That makes her curious. She takes a step toward me. “You know what tattoo I should get?”

I nod. Hell, I know exactly what I want to put on her.

She tilts her head. “What?”

I hold a hand out to her. “Trust me?”

“Really? You going there… again?”

I reach for her this time. “Let me give you a tattoo.”

She nods and puts her hand in mine, and I let out a breath. Maybe, just maybe, I can make this right.