Page 15 of Sinful Skulls (Rebel Skull MC #9)

Chapter Fourteen

Brody

S he watches the scenery pass outside her window, but she’s a million miles away.

“So, when you say if they would have told you, you might have understood yourself better, what exactly does that mean?”

Her shoulders climb to her ears. “I don’t know.”

“I think you do.”

“I’m just different.”

“The opposite of a daisy,” I say, remembering our earliest conversation.

She smiles shyly, and her shoulders fall.

“My parents were so good to me. They were the most optimistic and driven people I’ve ever known.

I can’t think of a time they ever did the wrong thing.

” She shakes her head. “They nurtured me with love, but … I don’t know, I never felt like I could live up to their standards.

My eyes saw things they didn’t seem to notice. ”

“You mean the darker parts of life?”

The way she sighs breaks my heart. The sadness in her eyes tells me this has been weighing on her for a long time.

“This.” She waves her hand over her body. “I look normal on the outside, but inside, there’s … I don’t know how to describe it. There’s a longing. A melancholy that’s yearning to be seen, but I don’t know how to show anyone. It’s … it’s strange.”

“Can you paint it for me?” I ask.

Her head snaps in my direction, the pulse at her neck beating quickly beneath her tanned skin. “I don’t know,” she whispers.

I don’t believe her. She’s holding back from me. “I want you to look up the nearest art store and start making a list of everything you’ll need.”

She looks at me in disbelief. “How did I meet you again?” She laughs lightly.

“Well, you can thank my friend JD for that. He’s the one who drug my ass to the beach that day.”

When she pulls her phone from her pocket, I notice it’s powered off. She runs her thumb over the screen. It’s obvious she’s debating turning it on.

“Is there something more going on?”

When she doesn’t look at me or answer, I take that as a yes.

“You can use mine. No worries.” I pull it out of my pocket and hand it to her.

“I just don’t want to see the messages right now, you know?”

It’s something more than that, but I’m not going to push her. We’ll eventually get there. One step at a time. I’m just glad she got some sleep.

We find an art store, and she fills the cart with enthusiasm. It’s all good till we roll up to the checkout. She throws a complete fit when I won’t let her pay with the cash she pulled out of her account earlier.

She’s still pouting with her arms crossed when we get back on the road. “Why would you pay for my art supplies?”

I’m not going to argue with her about this. I was the one who suggested she paint. “You’re cute when you’re all worked up.”

“I have money, you know.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

She huffs, finally giving in.

“Did you miss me?” I ask, changing the subject.

“Did you miss me?” she fires back.

“Fuck yeah, I did.”

My honesty makes her smile. “Well, I guess I missed you a little too.” Her shy grin tells me a different story.

I reach over and take her hand in mine. “My friend has a cabin up here. It’s the perfect spot to get creative.”

Her hazel eyes shine in the bright sunlight. “I do appreciate your help.”

“I was thinking maybe you could call the dean and tell him you just need a little time. I hate to see you throw away the opportunity to study in Paris. We could spend a week or two in the mountains, and then we can fly back.”

“I’m never going back to France.” She stares at the road ahead of us. “Wait, did you say we ?”

“Yeah, I’ll go with you.”

Her brows rise. “Brody. You’d go to Paris with me?”

“For you,” I tell her. Paris is not on my bucket list, but I’ll go wherever this girl wants to go.

She shakes her head in disbelief. “It doesn’t matter. I’m not going back. I didn’t like it there.”

I get the feeling it’s not the country, or even the city, she didn’t like. Something about the school has freaked her out.

“You said the dean was your uncle, so is your biological family originally from there?”

Her hands slide under her legs. “Yeah. It’s so beautiful up here,” she says in attempt to change the subject.

I’ll let it go for now.

When we pull into Dirk’s driveway, I spot Ash’s truck. “It looks like we’re not the only ones who planned a mountain getaway.”

Daisy glances around. “Wow, this is incredible. Do you know who’s here?”

“Yeah, it’s one of my best friends. He’s been in treatment. I haven’t seen him in months.”

“Oh, then we should definitely at least go in and say hi.”

“Are you sure you’re up to it?”

Her head pulls back. “Yeah, of course. I’m feeling much better. I just needed a little sleep.”

“A little?”

“Ha ha. Okay, so I needed a lot.”

I hop out and round the truck opening her door for her. She gets out, takes a deep breath, and then spins in a circle.

“I love it.”

The color is slowly returning to her cheeks, and I’m starting to see more and more of the girl I met on the beach.

Ash greets us warmly, but then he points upstairs and ushers us outside.

“Lexie is upstairs hiding from me. Dirk and the others left her with me this morning, but she’s being stubborn. They didn’t bring her makeup, so she’s refusing to come down. Like fuck, I don’t care what she looks like, I just want to see her.”

Daisy’s eyes go back to the cabin.

“Lexie is the woman of Ash’s dreams, but she thinks he’s too good for her. She’s been a straight up brat, putting herself in all kinds of bad situations,” I tell her.

“Why would she think that?” Her gaze bounces between me and Ash.

“Ash here is a straight up hero.”

She smiles at him. “But you want her despite her flaws.”

He nods. “I’m willing to love all of her. She’s a beautiful person; she just doesn’t see it yet.”

Daisy tips her head back to look up at me. “Maybe I can get her down.”

I raise an eyebrow. “She’ll hurt your feelings,” I warn.

“Oh, come on. She can’t be that bad.”

Ash and I both laugh, letting her know that we’re kidding. Sort of.

“I’m going to give it a shot.” She grabs her bag out of the truck and then heads inside.

She’s not gone long before she comes out and relays her plan to us. “So, what do you think?” she asks.

Ash looks to me to answer. “You think you can open her eyes?”

“I know I can. She’s gorgeous.”

My eyes narrow on her. I don’t know if she’s up to this. She’s had a rough last few days. “It’s not what you usually paint.”

“I know.”

We stare at each other, but I can see how bad she wants to do this.

Eventually we all agree, and she bounces away from us.

“I think you’re in for a treat. Be fucking prepared,” I warn Ash. I’ve seen Daisy’s artwork and it’s spectacular, but I’ve only seen paintings of nature. This will be something new, and I have to say I’m a bit excited.

When the girls step outside, Ash stops breathing. “How did she get prettier?” he asks under his breath.

I watch as Daisy works her magic. I’m nothing short of amazed at how well Lexie is responding to her. When she suggests Ash be in the portrait, I brace myself, sure that Lex is going to take off. She’s a bit of a runner.

Lexie doesn’t run, but she looks uncomfortable, so I decide to head in and start supper. Ash said Jesse has been up here, so I’m sure the fridge and cupboards are full.

Once everything is in the oven, I walk over to take a peek out the windows. My eyes widen at the pose Daisy has my friends in. Fuck, that’s hot. Ash has one hand over Lexie’s throat, the other on her stomach, holding her tight against him.

It makes me question my delicate little flower.

She’s done a lot of talking about how good her family is and how different she is from them. I toss the apple in my hand a few times before taking a bite of it.

I’m close enough to see her canvas. It’s dark, sexy, and completely different from anything I’ve seen her paint.

Something happened in Paris. I understand the shock of finding out you’re adopted, but this is more than that. She ran … all the way back to the States. She gave up studying in the art capital of the world. The only emotion that justifies her behavior is fear. She’s afraid of something.

I want to know what or who scared her, but I know I have to be patient. The important thing is she’s here with me now. That’s how it will remain until I figure out exactly what happened.

Later in the evening, after supper, I ask Daisy if she’d like to go for a walk.

Lexie looks nervous that we’re leaving her alone with Ash, but I think they have some things they need to talk about.

And I know that Daisy and I do.

“Did you like the painting?” she asks quietly, keeping her eyes on the ground.

“It was different.” I keep my answer short and vague on purpose.

Her head tilts back, and she looks up at me. “Like bad different?”

“I didn’t say that. Why are you labeling different as bad?”

“It’s … I guess it’s not.” She sighs and returns to looking at the path ahead of us.

It’s getting dark, and she jumps when a squirrel runs across the path. “Oh my god, I thought that was a bear!”

I chuckle, and she smacks me lightly on the arm.

We continue to walk until we find a place to sit down. “This place is amazing.”

“Maybe we can find something similar to rent. I’ll look online when we get back to the cabin,” I tell her.

Her gaze roams over the darkening mountainside.

“It’s my favorite,” I tell her.

“What?” Her eyes meet mine.

“The portrait of Lexie and Ash. It’s my favorite.”

Her cheeks turn pink, standing out in the fading light of the day. “Really?”

I nod. “Because it came from somewhere in here.” I boldly place my hand between her breasts. You can almost see her thoughts racing round the golden ring of her eyes.

“Well, they all came from there,” she reasons, her eyes held captive by mine.

I press my other hand low over her stomach. “And here.”

She begins to breathe hard, her heart galloping beneath my hand. When I sit forward and brush my lips against her ear, she stops breathing all together. “I want to see more.”

As I lean away, I remove my hand over her stomach and place it over her throat. “Breathe,” I remind her.

Her lips part, and she lets out a little puff of air. I brush my thumb over her pulse, contemplating my next move. “Is this the part of you you’ve been hiding from the world?” I ask.

She nods as far as I allow. Her head tips back as I slide my hand up her throat. When she swallows beneath my palm, I know I’m on to something. I remove my hands from her suddenly.

“Stand up,” I order.

“O-okay,” she says, confusion pulling at her brow.

“Turn around.”

When she does, I wrap my arm around her waist and place her squarely on my lap with her back against my chest. Her legs fall on each side of mine, her toes tiptoeing just above the ground. I place my hands in the same pose she instructed Ash to take with Lexie.

Her breath hitches, and I feel the muscles in her thighs twitch against mine. When my fingers squeeze her throat lightly, I get the same response.

“Do you like this?” I ask, directly in her ear.

Her nod makes my cock jump against her back.

“It’s wrong. I know,” she whispers, dropping her head back against my shoulder.

“You denying yourself is what’s wrong. I don’t know about you, but this feels pretty damn right to me.”

She’s not convinced, but that’s okay. I see all the signs now. What a fortunate realization.

I exaggeratedly nuzzle into the side of her neck to lighten the mood, and it makes her giggle. “I think this is definitely something you and I are going to explore as soon as we’re alone.”

“You don’t think it’s bad?” she asks.

“Not when it’s between two consenting adults.”

She relaxes against me, and I remove my hand from her neck to hug her around the waist.

“I’m not sure what kind of darkness you think you’ve inherited, but I’ve spent enough time with you to know you’re not bad or wrong.”

Daisy goes still in my arms, and I know I’ve hit the nail on the head. I allow her to remain deep in thought as we stare up at the night sky.

Eventually we go back inside, and she returns to her normal bubbly self. I’m surprised by how well she gets along with Lexie. I’m not complaining. They both could use a friend right now.

When we go to bed, I listen to the two of them whispering upstairs. As soon as it quiets, I slip up to their room to make sure Daisy isn’t lying there awake. I smile when I find her fast asleep, hugging a little stuffed dog to her chest.

Lexie opens her eyes. I place my finger over my mouth. “I just wanted to check on her,” I whisper.

Her gaze softens, and she lays her head back on her pillow.

My eyes roam over Daisy one more time before I flip Lexie off and head toward the stairs.

Her chuckle follows me down. Lexie’s finally getting used to me. I love picking on her. She’s the little sister I never had.