Page 5

Chelsea

For the second time in less than a day, I find myself frozen to the floor, unsure of what to do. Hound is in bed, and naked from the looks of it.

Does that mean he expects us to share the same bed? But I’ve never shared a bed with anyone before, let alone a man. Thanks to my overprotective brother, I’ve never so much as kissed a boy before, and now I’m going to skip all those steps to…sleep with a man?

Sure, the man in question is built like a god. He has arms the size of tree trunks covered in gorgeous tattoos and a face most men would kill to have, but isn’t sharing a bed with someone you just met a giant leap? All I know about him is his name, and that he…kills people.

I chew on my bottom lip as I consider that this man might expect something from me. Some kind of reward for the inconvenience of not killing my brother.

“Chelsea.”

My eyes shoot up from the naked tattooed chest to the man’s eyes. “Huh?”

“Is something the matter?” he asks, sitting up, which sends the covers slipping down his defined abs to pool at his waist. The move reveals more of the man, and I blush fiercely, trying and failing not to stare at those sculpted abs. And then there’s that V-line that disappears into the covers.

Oh God ! I hiss at my own thoughts, forcing my eyes from him. “You’re…um, sleeping here?”

Hound is quiet for a long time, so I brave a look only to find those steely gray eyes trained on me.

“I should have considered that you would be uncomfortable sharing a bed with a stranger,” he says, pushing off the covers to reveal that he was, in fact, not naked under the sheets.

I wince at my own disappointment at revelation.

“You can sleep here, and I’ll take the couch—”

“No!” I blurt out, as surprised by my own outburst as he clearly is. Hound raises a brow as if expecting me to explain, but I have nothing. A few minutes ago, I was panicking from the thought of sharing a bed with a man for the first time in my life, and now what? I don’t want him to leave?

This man is dangerous. I saw it with my own eyes what he’s capable of, and yet, I feel the safe around him.

The time he left me to go speak to his president was nerve-wrecking, and everything fell into place when he walked back in through the door a half an hour later.

It didn’t make sense to me then, it doesn’t now, but all I know is that I feel safe around him.

No, I don’t want him to leave.

“Chelsea?”

“Stay,” I say, flushing at my own suggestion. Confused by it too. “It’s…um, there’s no reason for you to sleep on the couch when there’s a perfectly big enough bed here…”

“I’m fine—”

“And also, I’m not familiar with this place so I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep alone.” Not entirely true, but close enough.

Hound stares at me for a while which wrecks my nerves further, and it feels like forever before he nods. “I’ll stay,” he says, climbing back into bed. I try to keep my eyes firmly on his face but find them slipping to his abs, my pulse racing as they dip down…

Nope, not doing that!

“Okay, it’s good that you’re staying,” I blurt out before I can catch myself. I flush, mortified by my own reaction as I scramble to grab my bag. “I’ll, um…get dressed in the bathroom.”

I walk into the bathroom to get ready for bed, taking my sweet time to get dressed.

There are nerves swirling wildly in the pit of my gut before I realize that stalling only adds to them.

I tidy up after myself before creeping back into the bedroom, surprised by the disappointment that sets in when I find Hound already asleep.

I tiptoe to the empty side of the bed and climb in, eyeing Hound for any movement, but he doesn’t stir.

The sheets are cool against my skin, and I sigh at the feeling before turning to glance at the man sleeping next to me.

He sleeps on his back with an arm under his head, a position that exposes more of his muscles. The soft rhythm of his breathing fills the quiet room, and I allow myself to stare at him for a while as I wait for sleep to take over.

For a criminal, Hound sure is handsome, and I find myself wondering how I would have reacted if he’d shown up at the store and approached me. If he’d flirted with me. Would I have flirted back? I doubt I would have even know what to say given that I’ve never really tried before.

With a soft sigh, I turn away and close my eyes, willing my brain to shut down for the night, but…nothing happens. I sit up to fluff the pillow and tuck the covers around me before sliding back down and waiting for sleep to carry me away.

Any time now…

It takes me approximately ten minutes to realize there’ll be no sleep happening tonight, at least not for me.

I turn to stare enviously at the dosing man next to me, wanting him to be as nervous and restless as I am, but then again, he didn’t find out that his brother stole half a million dollars from the scariest MC in the tri-state area before being used as collateral.

Of course he would sleep like a baby without any worries in the world.

The devil on my shoulder suggests I kick at the covers and wake the man so we can both be miserable, but I question if I’m ready to deal with a sleep-deprived club enforcer. Probably not.

With another sigh, I shift my position, turning onto my back to stare up at the ceiling in hopes of finding the solution to my sleeplessness there.

The clock on the nightstand ticks softly in the background, each second stretching into eternity.

The mattress creaks slightly when I flip over to my side, hoping the change will coax sleep to my weary mind, but it only brings more frustration.

Okay, this is not working!

A frustrated whine climbs up my throat as I try to find a comfortable position, adjusting the pillow beneath my head once more, but that does little to help.

After what feels like an eternity of tossing and turning, I start to turn to face him again, but before I can, a hand snakes under the covers and over my waist, then I’m pulled flush against Hound.

My mouth parts on a gasp as his arm wraps around me, drawing me into the warmth of his body.

His skin is a furnace, and even with clothes on, I can feel the heat radiating from him.

In his warm embrace, I find my frustration softening, and something else takes root.

The hand on my stomach runs a soothing motion up and down before accidentally grazing my left boob.

I bite hard on my lip to stop the sound that threatens to squeak out, wincing at the wetness that spreads between my legs at the contact.

“Why can’t you sleep?” he murmurs, his deep voice thick and raspy. “I thought you said you were comfortable with me staying.”

“I am.” I sigh, pushing back against him to feel more of his warmth when a deep rumbling sound stops me in my tracks.

“Fuck, kitten, don’t do that.”

I worry the covers between my trembling fingers. “Do what?” I ask.

“Just sleep,” Hounds says after a moment, burying his face in the crook of my neck as if that’s going to help. I try to breathe quietly, biting hard on my lip when his warm breath brushes against my ear, sending a storm of goosebumps licking up my skin, and I want—no, need something.

I have no idea what it is I need, but every bit of my body is trembling.

The hand on my stomach making soothing motions isn’t doing me any favors.

My nipples are painfully hard behind my nightgown, and the spot between my thighs is aching.

Pushing against the solid wall of muscle behind me offers little relief; in fact, it only lights a fire under me. “Hound…”

“Sleep,” he says again, his voice rough, and whatever shred of exhaustion that was present earlier is gone. “You need to stop moving, Chelsea. You don’t want me to take you up on what you’re offering me right now.”

It’s a warning—a threat I ought to listen to, and I would if my brain wasn’t all fogged up. My body seems to have a mind of its own as I push back against him once more, and he groans when my ass brushes against something hard. “Oh!”

“You’re killing me here, baby.” He exhales into my hair even as he slides his hand up my nightgown, caressing my thigh. There’s no stopping the whimper that slips out when his fingers bite hard into my skin. “I’m trying to be a good man.”

I have no idea what being a good man has to do with anything.

I can barely think past the hand on my hip, wishing it would climb higher and touch that aching spot between my thighs.

I instinctively push into his hand, whimpering when he pulls away, but before I can embarrass us both by begging him to touch me there again, Hound flips me to my back and pulls me under him, his massive frame hovering over me.

His eyes are dark and heated, his expression hard as he stares down at me. It should scare me—remind me of the kind of man I am dealing with. Anything to clear my head of the fog, but I find myself hypnotized by his steely gaze.

And then the hand is back beneath my nightgown, trailing up my thighs and stopping dangerously close to where I want it most. Those heated eyes watch my reaction, darkening with lust when I arch into his hand, all but begging for him to touch me there. To ease the ache that’s driving me to madness.

“Is this what you want?” he asks, leaning down until his face is only a few inches from mine.

His dark eyes are on mine as he lifts his hand to my stomach, his touch burning into my skin.

I whimper when it climbs up to fondle my breasts, my back arching off the bed at the maddening sensation.

“You should know better than to tease me, Chelsea.”

Is that the first time he’s said my name? I’m not even sure anymore. I can’t think with my brain cells fried to bits. “More,” I beg, unsure exactly what it is I’m asking for, only certain that I want it. Want more of this man. “Hound—”

His mouth slams down on mine.

My eyes flutter to a close when he fastens his lips over mine in a kiss that was not meant to happen. Not with a man who only hours ago threatened to kill my brother. But now, I breathe him in like my life depends on it, swallowing his broken groans.

I find myself opening my legs wide to accommodate more of him. “Oh God!” I cry into the kiss when the thick ridge of his erection brushes my sex. My hands find their way to his shoulder to anchor myself as I rock forward and rub my clothed center against him, chasing that delicious feeling.

“It’ll be better without any clothes on,” he says raggedly against my lips, and in one swift move, he yanks down my panties, tearing them off completely.

His lips are pressed to mine as he tugs his boxers away.

It’s at the tip of my lips to tell the man of my inexperience.

That I’ve never so much as kissed a man before, but his hand goes to my butt, and he yanks me hard against him.

“Oh God!”

My back arches off the bed with a sob, a rough shudder rolling through my body as he presses his silky shaft against my bare sex. My folds flood with moisture. He was right. Oh, it feels so much better naked.

“Wrap your legs around me.”

I’m trembling as I lock my thighs around him, moaning at the feel of his naked body against mine.

Hound makes an impatient sound as he starts thrusting against my sex, his hardness massaging my feminine lips and sparking heat through my core.

His hand tightens on my butt as he rocks forward, his thick shaft gliding against the sensitive bundle of nerves between my legs.

It’s dirty and obscene and definitely not something I should be doing with the man who practically kidnapped me…

But it feels too good.

“Don’t stop,” I cry, tightening my arms around his shoulder as I roll my hips in time with his, the wetness of my arousal easing the glide of his cock between my folds.

“Fuck, tell me you’re close, baby,” he grinds out, gripping me harder as his hips slam upward and forward, the friction against my clit threatening to make me explode.

Is that what he means by close? If so, then yes!

I’m so close, like a countdown to a detonation that threatens to destroy me completely.

But I have no voice to tell him that as pleasure wraps its tight fist around my throat and robs me of the ability to speak.

“Oh!” I sob, digging my nails into his shoulder as I work my hips faster and harder, meeting his feverish need with my own until I feel it happen.

Hound’s mouth takes mine, capturing my scream as waves of pleasure roll through me, one after another.

My body thrashes underneath his massive frame uncontrollably as I struggle to understand the delicious heat rocking through my system.

My toes curl in pleasure and my sex pulses intensely, clenching and releasing against his thickness.

“Fuuuck!” he roars, breaking away to bury his face in my neck, and I absorb every rough tremor of his body before I feel his wet release coat my thighs and sex.

He rolls his hips, painting me further before he collapses on top of me with a heavy grunt.

My legs fall from his waist, and the hands on his shoulders drop weakly to my sides.

Slowly, I feel the fog in my head start to clear, and my breath slows as I feel my eyes grow heavy with sleep. I should probably think about what just happened and how the hell I’m going to deal with it, but I’m warm and my body is humming, and now I just want to sleep.

“Chelsea.” I feel Hound push back, but I don’t open my eyes. “Are you okay?”

“Hmm, m’kay,” I hum, my voice a little slurred even to my own ears. “So sleepy.”

“We need to clean up,” he says, but I don’t bother opening my eyes. The thought of leaving this comfortable bed doesn’t sound at all appealing to me.

“Later.”

He mutters something that I don’t quite make out before I feel him pull away from me.

I mourn the loss of his warm body against mine, but I’m too exhausted to protest. I slip in and out of consciousness.

At one point, I feel a wet cloth touch the spot between my legs and over my thighs, and later, I feel him climb back into bed behind me.

Hound pulls me into his embrace, wrapping his massive arms around me, and I cling to the man like ivy, nuzzling his chest before everything fades away.