Page 12

Rocky

I shoulda taken her home right after the picnic.

That was the smart thing to do.

Instead, I brought her back to my office.

Like a fuckin’ idiot beggin’ to lose control.

Birdie was trailin’ behind me, her little laptop tucked under her arm, hair all wild and blonde, cheeks pink from the sun, or because of me. She had this way of lookin’ at me like I was the answer to a question she didn’t even wanna ask.

And I felt like a goddamn riddle when she was near.

She smiled at the photos on the wall as we walked, old game day pics from my college days, a few blurry ones from my first year flyin’ tours, back before the tattoos, the patch and the whole biker world consumed my life.

“You looked like trouble even back then,” she teased, eyes on the one where I was holdin’ a helmet and smilin’ like I hadn’t learned what regret tasted like yet.

“Was trouble,” I said, unlockin’ the office door. “Still am.”

She stepped inside first, and that scent hit me like a punch to the gut.

Warm sugar and wildflowers. Sunshine and sex .

Fuck, I could smell how bad she wanted me. My wolf snarled low inside me.

Mine.

The thought came without warnin’. Didn’t matter that I hadn’t marked her. Hadn’t claimed her. My wolf didn’t care about technicalities.

She was it .

And it was gettin’ harder to pretend otherwise.

I shut the door behind us, leanin’ against it like it might hold back the tide inside me.

Birdie turned, lookin’ up at me with wide eyes and a half-smile, like she knew . Like she felt it too, the pull between us, taut as a live wire.

“Rocky,” she said, voice soft.

I didn’t answer.

Didn’t need to.

I was on her in two strides, hand slidin’ around her waist, lips crashin’ down on hers like I was dyin’ and she was oxygen.

She made this noise, soft and surprised, and then kissed me back like she meant it.

Like she needed it.

I lifted her up onto the desk without thinkin’, her thighs partin’ around my hips, hands in my hair, tugging just enough to drive me fuckin’ insane. My palms were under her shirt, skimmin’ smooth skin, every inch makin’ my pulse hammer harder .

Her hands slid under my shirt instead, fingers trailin’ along the ridges of my scars like she wasn’t afraid of the wreckage I carried.

And God, I wanted to wreck her back.

Wanted her marked. Wanted her scent buried in my sheets. On my skin. In my fuckin’ soul.

My wolf was damn near foamin’ at the mouth.

Claim her.

Not yet.

I couldn’t, not without her knowin’ what I was. What claimin’ her really meant. What that bite would do.

But I let myself have this .

Her body archin’ into mine. Her breath hitchin’. Her mouth partin’ as I kissed down her throat, my hands slidin’ up under the lace edge of her bra.

“Tell me to stop,” I rasped against her neck. “Say the word and I’ll stop.”

She didn’t.

I went straight for the kill. My fingers deep in her pussy, I growled, “Birdie, I’m gonna fuck you right here on this desk.” It was a promise.

Then—

Knock knock knock.

Fuck .

“Rocky! You’re late for the 1:30 Smoky Ridge tour. Chopper’s waitin’!”

I froze, breathin’ heavy.

Birdie gasped, eyes wide, lips kiss-swollen.

I backed up, fists clenched at my sides. If I didn’t, I’d forget where I ended and she began.

“Jesus. We’re gonna have to finish this later.” I brought her juices to my tongue. I couldn’t help myself.

Her jaw hung open as she watched me lick.

Damn, she tasted like sweet tea and surrender.

Like a risk I was already willin’ to take.

“Don’t threaten me with a good time.”

“Fuck,” I muttered. “Timings a bitch.”

Birdie laughed breathlessly, cheeks flushed.

I was on her like white on rice, brushed her hair back, kissed her slow and deep. One last taste.

“You’re dangerous, woman,” I murmured.

That night, I walked her to the door like a man marchin’ himself to the gallows.

Birdie was smilin’, tuckin’ her hair behind one ear like that kiss in my office hadn’t just turned my blood to molten fuckin’ steel. She was tryin’ to play it cool. I could see it in the way she avoided meetin’ my eyes for more than a second. But I could smell her desire.

Sweet .

Hot.

Confused as hell.

My wolf was still growlin’ low, pacing in my chest like a caged animal, pissed off I’d stopped when I did. Pissed off I’d pulled away at all. Because as far as the wolf was concerned, that was ours in there. Her scent. Her skin. Her sounds. Her pussy. Ours.

“Thanks for taking me today,” she said. Her voice was soft. Sweeter than usual. “It was… one of the best days I’ve had in a long time.”

I swallowed hard, tryin’ to keep my damn claws from showin’.

“Yeah,” I said. “It was.”

We reached her porch. She turned to face me, her keys in her hand but not movin’ to unlock the door. There was a pause, heavy enough to drown in. She stepped closer, like she was waitin’ for me to follow her inside.

I didn’t.

Couldn’t.

She tilted her head, brows liftin’ just slightly. “You comin’ in?”

I should’ve.

God, I wanted to.

One step. That’s all it would’ve taken. One step across the threshold, and I’d have her pressed up against the wall, her name on my lips like a prayer and a curse. I could already see her head thrown back, the little sounds she’d make, the way she’d taste if I kissed her deeper .

But if I went in that house tonight, I wouldn’t leave until she was marked.

Until I sank my teeth into her skin and made her mine in a way, she couldn’t come back from.

And she didn’t know what that meant yet.

Didn’t know what I was yet.

I clenched my fists so tight I felt the skin pull.

“Nah,” I said, voice like gravel. “I gotta get back to the Wild Dog. Knox wants a word about something. He’s the boss.”

It was a lie.

A weak one.

She knew it. I could see it in her eyes.

“Right,” she said, lips twitchin’ into a half smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Club stuff.”

I hated the look on her face. That little flicker of disappointment she tried to hide. Like she thought maybe she wasn’t enough to keep me interested.

But it wasn’t that. Not even close.

She was too much.

Too important.

Too dangerous to everything I’d tried to lock away inside myself.

I stepped in close, close enough that her breath hitched and her gaze dropped to my mouth .

I tilted her chin up with two fingers, gently, like I was touchin’ somethin’ holy. “Birdie… if I go inside, I won’t stop. You get that, right?”

She blinked up at me, green eyes wide. “I didn’t ask you to stop.”

That almost broke me.

Almost.

I leaned in, pressed my forehead to hers, breathin’ her in slow and deep. “You don’t know what you’re askin’, Sunshine. Not really.”

She opened her mouth to argue. I kissed her instead, slow, lingering, full of the promise I couldn’t keep tonight. I poured it all into that kiss. All the hunger. All the restraint. All the shit I couldn’t say because I hadn’t told her the truth yet.

When I pulled back, she looked dazed.

Wrecked.

Just like me.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said, voice barely more than a whisper.

I stepped back and off the porch before I changed my mind.

Her porch light buzzed overhead, moths dancin’ in circles around it like they didn’t give a damn they were about to burn.

I knew how they felt.

I made it to my bike, swung a leg over, and revved the engine like I could outrun what was clawing at me from the inside.

The wolf didn’t understand why I’d left her behind .

Didn’t understand caution. Or timing. Or the human need for permission.

All it knew was mate .

All it felt was loss .

And as I tore off into the dark Tennessee night, heart thunderin’, hands tight on the bars, all I could think about was how close I’d come to losin’ control.

One more minute with her and I would’ve ruined everything.

And the scariest part?

I wasn’t sure I’d have regretted it.