Page 15 of Priest’s Sunbeam (Renegade Souls MC: Next Generation #2)
Sebastian
He woke up in hell with Sunshine rubbing against his thigh.
In the night, she’d wound herself around him, hugging his leg between hers, and addict that he was, he didn’t gently roll her away. Instead, Seb groaned like he’d been handed heaven, and he’d palmed her little butt, wrapping his other arm around her waist, and he’d fallen back to sleep.
Now he was sweating. Not from the heat but from holding back, from sliding his hand into her PJs and stopping whatever sweet ache she had to make her writhe against his leg.
Was she dreaming about him?
He needed a military operation to help him win Sunny’s forgiveness. Not having her in his life was slowly sending him mad. From early on, she’d been his person. The one he’d choose above all else. And it had taken a punch to the solar plexus for him to realize that.
Even now, when he was physically close to her, he was nowhere near getting to her heart again, like he once owned. His Sunny was one of a kind, and she needed to be back in his arms, where she belonged.
Briefly touching his lips to her forehead, he carefully separated himself, leaving the bed and tucking her in.
“You’re mine.” He said quietly to hear himself say the words.
No two words ever meant more to him. Before derailing his meticulous plan to win her back, he reversed course, descending the stairs to begin breakfast. Before anything else, he had to exercise; otherwise, his erection might frighten her if she woke up now.
When she found him sometime later, Seb was dripping with sweat. Sunny’s arrival interrupted his hour-long jump rope workout. Seeing her jaw drop gave him a fresh burst of energy.
He was not a proud man when he wanted to peacock for Sunny. To have her admire his body until she was starved to touch him. He flexed every muscle as he continued to spin the rope in a fast double loop, then crossed the rope over his body, bouncing lightly on his feet, and smiled at her.
“Hey, sunbeam. Sleep well?”
“I. eh.” That’s right, eat me up, baby . He grinned again. “Yeah, I slept fine.”
Before he got too turned on by her eyes roaming over him, he brought the rope to a stop.
“Can you find me a towel?”
As he approached, she spun around so fast he saw her little butt jiggle, and he smiled shamelessly, eyeing her in the same way. He was guzzling water, his throat parched. When she came back with a towel, she held it out at arm’s length.
“You don’t want to dry me off?”
It was sexy as fuck to watch her cheeks fill with color. The towel landed on his face.
“There was a time when you used to race into the gym to count my weight lifting reps. You would have jumped at the chance of wiping my sweat.”
He said it to get a rise out of her; he was frustrated with how she held back from him, especially since she never had before. If he had to play dirty at first, he would. And she rewarded him with a beautiful scowl.
“I was a stupid kid back then.”
“You’ve never been stupid a day in your life.”
“I’m stupid right now.”
Frowning, he stopped wiping his chest and arms. “How?”
“I’m here with you when I should be home with my parents. But as always, I blindly followed you. It doesn’t matter how long I’ve been away; bad habits are hard to break.”
She might as well have told Seb she was in love with him for how fucking euphoric he felt hearing those words, even if she didn’t look happy saying them.
Sunny turned her back, faking interest out of the kitchen window, but she knew he was approaching because he saw her shoulders stiffen. He placed his hands there and wouldn’t let her shrug him off.
“If it makes you feel any better in that decision, I would have thrown you over my shoulder and carted you here against your will.”
“It still makes me stupid because I wouldn’t have put up a fight.” She exhaled like a gusty wind, but Seb couldn’t keep the smile off his face. She didn’t know the good she was giving him, even if she looked miserable.
Because he needed to, he dropped a kiss to the crown of her head.
Missing someone who was in front of him was fucking agony.
“I’ll rinse off in the shower and then make us some breakfast. What do you want to do today?”
She turned. “Do I get a choice? I thought we had to stay put.”
“We do, but as long as we lie low, we can still go out. We could drive to Utah.”
“To visit the Diablos compound?”
Seb scowled at how happy she looked. He was aware she liked the Diablo Disciples MC because of Roux and Butcher’s kids. They bridged the two clubs together because of family ties.
“Only if you agree to be friendly with me again.”
He’d reached the blackmail portion of his plan sooner than he thought and wasn’t mad about it.
Rather than being pissed off, he watched the cogs turning when Sunny’s eyebrow lifted. She had no idea how gorgeous she was with her baggy sleepwear and her hip cocked in that way that made his hands itch to grab on and bring her onto his lap.
“You’d voluntarily take me to another MC so I can be friendly with everyone else?”
“Hey, I never said I’d let you be friendly with them. Only me.”
Right then, he pictured her being friendly with all those egomaniacs, Diablos, and he vowed he’d never take her to any MC again. Not until she wore his property patch on her back, a ring on her finger, six babies in her belly, and her hand in his.
Fuck . Seb wiped a hand down his face to scrub away his thoughts. They’d bolted so fast, like he couldn’t control himself.
“Think about what you want to do.” He climbed the stairs to the shower.
He returned to the kitchen; they were dressed casually, and Sunny had the coffee brewing. Seb started cooking bacon, eggs, and toast. His phone rang when they were in the middle of eating.
He saw the VP on the screen.
If Hawk told him the trouble was neutralized and to bring Sunny home, he was gonna lie his ass off to her to keep her alone for a while longer. As he answered, his conscience was clear as a whistle, not a flicker of guilt.
“Is my daughter okay?”
“Of course she is.” He sent her a wink across the table as her eyebrows folded in, watching him as she drank her coffee. “How’s things?”
“Same, but I have a lead to follow today. Make sure you’re with Sunny. Don’t leave her alone.”
“I promise.”
“And your mitts off her.”
Seb chuckled, but didn’t answer. Choosing not to lie to his VP.
Hawk sighed like he could sense Seb’s intentions. “Let me talk to my girl.”
He passed the phone across the table. “It’s your dad.” For the next minute, he listened to the one-sided conversation.
And then his ears perked up when Sunny said. “No, Daddy, I can handle him.”
Oh, can she? He’d love being handled by her. He smirked, and she turned red, averting her eyes.
“He’s behaving, but he is a Priest, and we know what they’re like.” She chuckled, sending a sneaky glance his way. “There’s no guessing how long it will last. I know, Daddy, I will. Seb is aware of my self-defense master skills.”
Because he’d been the one to teach her every underhanded tactic to fight off an attacker, and the little brat wanted to use it on him? He flashed her his teeth, grinning.
“No, I couldn’t use a gun. I don’t want to be the one to clean up all that blood. Oh, you’re right, Daddy; we could send a prospect, that’s good thinking. Yes, I will. Love you, too. Bye.”
She handed him his phone and stuck a piece of bacon in her mouth like she hadn’t been planning his murder.
“Did Hawk suggest you shoot me?”
“Yes, he’s so sweet, looking out for me.”
“So am I!”
She lifted her eyes, and he wanted to bang his chest like a caveman for his girl to hero-worship him again. She was driving him mad.
“You’re hardly sweet, Sebastian.”
“Come around this table, and I’ll show you how sweet I can be. You won’t think about shooting me.”
She turned pink and then red. Seb willed her to come to him, but she stayed rooted in her seat, nibbling on toast. That lucky piece of bread. He’d give up everything he had worked for to have Sunny nibble on him.
Seb was fortunate to have a front-row seat to witness how authentic relationships were nurtured. It’d be a total guess where he’d be now if his birth parents had raised him.
He saw how Preacher worshipped the ground Ruby walked on and wasn’t afraid to lose his masculinity in front of other men to show that worship.
His feelings for Sunny had always been deep. And when they changed, it took a minute to accept those changes.
But his devotion to her hadn’t waned.
It had become more possessive.
The air felt charged, and he was about to confess everything and lay his feelings bare when Sunny said. “Can we go for a ride? I don’t care where.”
“Sure.” He’d agree to almost anything.
After eating, they cleaned the kitchen and took off on his bike.
Seb didn’t have a destination in mind, but they ended up in Utah anyway, and he finally brought the bike to a stop at a bluff overlooking the entire city.
“Woah, it looks like ants down there,” Sunny remarked, her breath catching in her throat as she gazed down from the bike, the wind ruffling her hair. Seb propped his ass against his motorcycle, ankles crossed, watching Sunny’s enjoyment of the view. “I think I can see Axel’s MC from here.”
“We’re not going to the Diablos compound,” he reminded her, and she turned her bright smile on him, almost like old times when she’d tease him. Realizing she’d almost been friendly with him again, her smile vanished.
“I never asked to go there. I hear Atlas might take over soon as the prez.”
“How did you hear that?”
“I know people.” She shrugged.
Seb felt a surge of jealousy intensifying in his gut. If she were hanging out with anyone from the Diablos, he’d have to keep tabs on them.
“Atlas Tucker is a serious head case. He’s a robot, and he’s not keen on Alpha, so that’s gonna be a shitshow to look forward to when they’re both in charge of their clubs.”
“He seems alright,” Sunny interjected, and Seb growled low.
“Sunny, if you keep singing the praises of other men, I’m gonna lose it.” When she turned with a surprised look, he beckoned her over. “Get away from the edge.”
“The ride here did nothing for your grumpiness.” She remarked, standing beside the bike, but not close enough to him to satisfy Seb’s need.
He burned for this girl, and she’d put up walls around herself.