She finally does. “When they finally got a lead on his location, they found out he had been taken by the leader of this criminal organization. He won’t tell me who they are, but when they went in to get him out, Tyke had already killed the leader and a group of his top men. He said Tyke is in danger, big amounts of it, and so is the whole club. He wants us all on lockdown.”
No.
“No,” I rasp. “Is Tyke hurt?”
“I don’t know. He said as soon as they rolled into town, Tyke disappeared. He thinks he’ll come to you.”
Oh God.
“How bad is this, Tana?”
“I’ve never seen them so frantic in my life, and that’s not a lie. Whoever they messed with has them worried about serious retaliation. Maddox says as soon as Tyke arrives there, you need to get to the compound. We are going up to a cabin in the mountains that they use when things are dangerous like this.”
“I . . . I have a job,” I whisper. “I have a woman and her child living with me now. I can’t just leave, Tana. I’m not even part of the club.”
“No,” she says softly. “But you’re Tyke’s lady.”
“I’m not,” I whisper.
“Look, just sit tight, okay? See if Tyke shows; if he doesn’t, let me know and we’ll come and get you. We can discuss it then.”
“Okay.”
We say our goodbyes and hang up, just as I hear the bellow of a Harley-Davidson outside my house. She was right; Tyke did come to me. That makes my heart clench and swell all at the same time. I stand in the spot I’m already in and watch the door, unable to process anything.
A moment later, it swings open and Tyke comes in. He’s limping in a bad way, his entire leg looks as if every touch is agony. He’s dressed all in black, with his cut hugging his shoulders and chains hanging from his jeans. He looks dangerous. More dangerous than I’ve ever seen him. His face is messed up, with bruises on his temple, cheek and jaw. His lip is busted. One eye is swollen shut. His knuckles are red raw.
His hair is a mess, and his eyes are wild as they fall on me. Something in my body explodes and a warmth rushes between my legs. It’s so unexpected that I gasp, my lips parting gently. Tyke’s eyes drop to my lips and then, in a low, husky tone, he rumbles, “Fuck it. Fuck all of it. I’m takin’ what’s mine, what’s always been mine.”
Then he strides—well, more like limps—towards me. His arm goes around my waist, catching me off balance, and I fall into him. I gasp and try to steady myself, but he’s backing me towards the kitchen counter, frenzy clearly having taken hold of his body. When my back hits the cool wood, his lips are on mine.
There is no warning. Nothing gentle. And something inside my belly is igniting like a fire that’s been snuffed out for far too long.
Tyke’s lips are scratchy, and I don’t care that they’re sore. I kiss him back with a force I didn’t know I had. My hands go up and tangle in his messy hair and when he reaches down, curling his hand around my bottom, I let him lift me so my legs are wrapped around his hips. He kisses me like that, with my body pressed into the counter, until we’re both panting.
Then he turns us, still holding me, and takes the few steps to the sofa. He drops down and I land underneath his big, wound up body. He feels like stone against me, hot, searing stone. His lips find my neck and he gently suckles my skin. “Was a fuckin’ fool,” he murmurs there. “Wanted you since the minute I laid eyes on you. Too stupid to see you wanted me too. Not waitin’ a second longer to take you. Let me fuck you, Pippa. I’ll do it slow, but baby, let me fuck you.”
God, his voice. His words, so husky and low, make my belly clench. I want him. I’ve always wanted him. If I trust anyone to take what I’ve managed to keep safe all these years, it would be Tyke. “Yes,” I whisper. “Yes.”
He groans, and his lips move over my skin, still frenzied. He gently takes hold of my nighty and lifts it up, removing it from my body. I’ve got only a pair of panties on underneath, and when his eyes find my breasts, I flush. My hands go to cover them, feeling uneasy and unsure, but he wraps his fingers around my wrists and pulls them back. “No,” he rasps. “You let me see every inch, darlin’.”
I let him pull my hands away and watch his face twist with something amazing as he takes in my bare breasts. His eyes meet mine and I see the appreciation in them. I’ve always believed my breasts to be tiny and unattractive to the male eye, but the way Tyke is looking at them has me believing I might have just had it wrong all this time.
He leans back, still holding my eyes, and shrugs off his jacket. He drops it to the floor before taking his shirt and pulling it over his head. My eyes drop to his muscled body and my tummy tightens with need. He’s beautiful. So damned beautiful. He reaches for his jeans and I turn away, cheeks heating once more. I hear the zipper go, and then his boots hit the floor.
Then he’s back over me.
Naked.
Blissfully naked.
His skin is hot against my own, his body hard and dominating. His hardness is pressed between my legs, probing, waiting. I whimper when he reaches for my panties. This is happening fast, but it’s not cold. I know Tyke. I adore Tyke. I trust Tyke. He’s the only person I’ve ever loved with all of my heart. I want him to have this as much as I want it for myself.
He lowers my panties and when he sees me for the first time, my flesh exposed to him, he hisses and curses. Then he tosses my panties. “Fuck, Pippa,” he growls. “You’re beautiful. So fuckin’ beautiful.”
“I’m . . .” I swallow, shifting nervously. “Tyke, I’m scared.”
He looks up at me and brings his body down over mine again. This time his hardness is pressed right there. It feels forbidden, yet utterly beautiful. He strokes a finger down my cheek and our eyes stay locked in silence for a long moment. “I won’t hurt you,” he finally whispers. “Never hurt you, Pip.”
“I know,” I say, my voice breathy.
“I can’t do all the things I’d like to do to make this better for you, baby, because my lip is busted up, but I’m going to do everything I can to make this less . . . painful.”
He can’t do everything he’d like. What would he like?
He must see the question on my face, because his lip quirks.
“I was going to lick you until you screamed my name,” he murmurs and my eyes go wide. “But I can’t do that with my mouth the way it is. So, I’m going to have to make it better for you in other ways.”
How many ways are there?
He shows me.
First, by putting his mouth to my breasts and gently sucking. He flicks the tips of my nipples with his tongue, sending a sensation through my body that’s so incredible I cry out his name, clutching his shoulders and arching up to him. I’ve never felt something so amazing.
I’m so distracted I don’t realize his fingers are against my sex until he slips one into my folds and over my clit. I gasp and my eyes meet his as he looks up at me. He smiles lazily, and gently dips his finger lower. “Wet, baby. Exactly how I want you.” Then he brings his finger back up and starts massaging the aching ball of nerves that doesn’t seem to be easing, but instead building hotter and hotter.
His mouth finds my nipple again, his fingers massage my sex, and before I know it, that intense pleasure I felt with him the last time we were together is rising again. I whimper, arching until my back hurts, feeling the intensity get higher and higher until I’m screaming his name and my body is coming undone. My skin prickles, my core tightens, and I shudder viciously as pleasure takes over.
“That’s it,” he murmurs. “Good girl.”
He releases me slowly as my shuddering subsides, and crawls back up my body until he’s positioned over me again. He presses his lips to my temple as he leans over, taking out a condom from the jeans on the floor. He rises up, and I get my first look at him, entirely naked. My eyes drop to the deep V in his groin area that leads to his manhood.
My eyes widen when they catch sight of the hard, thick, pulsing length
. It’s big, long and terrifying. I swallow as my eyes move over it, taking in the soft skin just below it, with two distinct bulges. Tyke takes hold of it, stroking it up and down, and then he slides a yellow rubbery-looking condom over it, covering it from tip to base.
I look up at him. “Tyke,” I whisper.
“It’s goin’ to be fine, darlin’. You say no, I’ll stop. You hear?”
I nod, and when his body covers mine again, panic rises higher and higher. I try to take deep, steady breaths, but I don’t know what’s about to happen. I have no idea. None at all. My eyes flash to Tyke’s, and his brows furrow. “Shit, baby, you look like you’re going to vomit.”
“Can you talk me through it? I don’t . . . I have no idea what’s going to happen.”
His eyes soften and he leans down, pressing our foreheads together. “Firstly, you got to relax. The more you clench, the more it’ll hurt. I’m going to go as easy as I can on you, Pip, but you gotta trust me.”
I nod, swallowing.
“Breathe, baby.”
I take a deep, shaky breath.
“Another.”
I do it again and again, until my body is less tense.
“Focus on me,” Tyke says, kissing the hollow of my ear. “Just focus on me.”
I do. I focus on the way his mouth moves down my neck, over my collarbone and back up. I focus on the gentle way he kneads my breasts, sending little thrills through my body. I focus on his hard, muscled body warming mine, protecting me. I close my eyes and drink him in, taking in every single feeling swelling in my chest.
He reaches down between us and then he’s right there, pressing against my entrance.
“Going to push in a little. You tell me when you want me to stop and I’ll stop. We’ll adjust and then keep going.”
I nod, and whisper, “Kiss me, please.”
He obliges and kisses me softly at first, teasing my mouth with his. Then it gets deeper and his tongue starts dancing with mine. He presses against me, pushing into my sex until a distinct burn radiates through my core. I flinch and he immediately stops.
“I’ve never done this before, Pip. You’re goin’ to have to tell me when it’s too much.”
“You’ve never had sex?” I gasp.
He smiles, like a beautiful devil. “No, baby, I’ve never been with a virgin.”
“Oh.”
He strokes my cheek. “Does it help if I say you’re the only woman I’ve been with that I fuckin’ adore?”
That does help.
I smile a little.
He kisses me again.
He pushes in more, farther, and the pain gets more intense. God, it hurts. It’s not pleasurable at all. Does it feel like this every time?
“Tyke,” I gasp. “That hurts. It hurts.”
“Sorry, baby,” he says. “It’s going to hurt this time around, and probably for the next few. It’ll get better after that, though. I swear it.”
I nod and he strokes my hair back as he pushes in deeper.
“Nearly there,” he says, his voice so tight I wonder if it’s hurting him, too.
“Fuck,” he grunts.
I hold my breath, close my eyes and endure the pain as he slides in farther and farther. Then, with one final push, he’s fully inside me. I gasp, he growls, and then we both go still. I feel so full, I can feel him inside my body, inside me. Tyke is making love to me.
“I’m going to move,” he says in a tight voice. “If it hurts, tell me to stop.”
I nod and clutch his arms as he starts rocking. He pulls out a little, then pushes back in. Then he does it again, pulling out a little more each time. It hurts and it’s uncomfortable, but the very idea of having Tyke inside me is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever had happen to me. All the pain in the world couldn’t take away the beauty in my soul right now.
“Oh baby,” Tyke rasps. “Feels so fuckin’ good.”
It does?
My heart swells and flutters. I look into his eyes, feeling the pain get less and less. It doesn’t feel good, exactly, but it doesn’t hurt so much anymore. Tyke is rocking his hips, his eyes are holding mine, and we’re connecting in a way we’ve never connected. His fingers find my chin and he groans, “Watch me come inside you, darlin’. Watch how good you make me feel.”
He thrusts a few more times and then his eyes almost glaze over as a strangled, ragged growl is ripped from his throat and his body stills over mine. His fingers tighten around my chin, and it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I watch him, relishing in the feeling of his body shaking over mine, and know that I did that to him.
Me.
Just me.
He lowers down, burying his head in my shoulder, and we lie like that for a long, long time.
The buzzing of his phone from the clothes pile on the floor brings reality flooding back. We’re in danger, and Tyke isn’t meant to be here. We’re meant to be with Maddox. Tyke shifts and reaches down, grabbing his phone.
“Got to take this, beautiful,” he murmurs, pulling out of me gently. He sits back and pulls me up, so I’m tucked in his arms. I press my cheek to his chest and listen.
“What, man?” he answers.
I hear someone on the other side of the phone, yelling.
“Yeah, and I’m seein’ my woman. You can fuckin’ wait.”
More yelling.
“I know how fuckin’ serious it is, Maddox. I’m also not goin’ to bend over and let them take my life out of my hands while they fuck me up the ass.”
My brows go up. I’ve never heard Tyke talk like that before.
“Yeah, well, fuck you, man.”
Then he hangs up.
I turn to him and see he’s staring straight ahead, jaw tight. I reach up and tentatively stroke the bruise on his cheek. “You’re hurt, Tyke.”
He turns and looks down at me.
“Don’t worry about me. Let’s get you cleaned up.”
“But...Tana said they caught you. Did they hurt you more than what I see?”
He shakes his head. “No, and I’ll tell you all about it another time, but don’t ruin this moment for us. I’m beat up, but I’m okay in every other way. Trust that, okay?”
I nod.
He pushes to his feet and I don’t miss the pained hiss that leaves his lips as he limps down the hallway. He comes back a moment later with a warm washcloth. “Lay back.”
I blink at him. “Pardon?”
He grins. “Lay back. I’m not leaving you sore and unclean. Let me wash you.”
Wash me? There?
My skin prickles with shame.
“No, it’s okay.”
“Pippa, baby, lay down.”
I do as he asks, lying down. He comes over me and gently spreads my legs. I throw my arm over my face in shame as he gently wipes me clean, then he’s gone again. I sit up and pull on my panties and my nighty. He comes back a second later, still buck-naked. My eyes fall to his parts now, and I see it looks very different just falling between his legs, no longer aroused.
“You’ll give me a complex if you keep starin’ at my cock like that, little one.”
I jerk and look away, cheeks burning. Tyke shuffles about and when I look back, he’s got his jeans back on and nothing else. He turns to me, searching my face. “Are you hurting?”
I shrug. “A little. Not really.”
He reaches over and cups my jaw. “I fucked up, Pippa. I made excuses because I was scared. No more. I want you more than my next breath. Let me have that.”
I lean forward, pressing my lips to his. “You’ve always had that, Tyke. Even if you didn’t realize it until now.”
He kisses me softly and then pulls back, his face twisted in pain. “You got painkillers?”
My brows furrow. “Your legs?”
He nods.
“Was it the riding?”
He shakes his head, running his hands through his hair. “No, it wasn’t just that. It contributed, even though I spent most of my time with my le
gs up. We started and stopped a lot, which took a lot. It was when the fight broke out. Adrenaline took over and I forgot about the pain until I stopped.”
“Tyke, you shouldn’t have ridden home. You’ve probably done damage.”
“Don’t doubt it,” he says, stretching his legs out with a grimace. “It feels like all my bones are shattered.”
“Have you showered? Do you want me to rub your muscles?”
He looks to me, his eyes soft. “You wanna do that for me, after I was an ass to you?”
I smile softly and nod. “Yeah, I do.”
“Fuck me,” he murmurs. “What did I do to deserve you?”
“That’s a simple answer, Tyke.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah,” I whisper. “You are you. That’s all the reason you need.”
He smiles.
My heart falls even more in love with him.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
THEN - Pippa
My stomach is cramping. I get this when my period comes along, but today it’s worse. I’ve run out of the scarce protection we are offered, so I wander out of the room and down the hall to ask the guard for some more. I run into Artreau there. I’m surprised to see him; he’s been hidden more often than not.
I stiffen when he turns my way, and reconsider if I truly need protection. Toilet paper will work, won’t it?
“What are you doing in here and not working?” Artreau barks.
“I’m, ah, I needed the bathroom.”
His face scrunches and he walks towards me. I back up, all the way down the hall, not stopping until I’m back in the room. Artreau kicks the door closed and stalks towards me. I tumble and land on the bed, gasping as he stops at the end of it with a smirk on his face.
“Scared of me, precious?”
“No,” I whisper.
He laughs. “No? Have you forgotten you owe me for saving that pathetic excuse of a man’s life?”
“No, but—”
“Did you think I wouldn’t come, just because it’s been a long time? I lost the last girl satisfying me just yesterday. I’m bored. You owe me. It makes perfect sense. Don’t worry, it’ll feel real nice.”