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“And I’m truly sorry for the loss of your parents and the blows life has dealt you. I know you may not understand, but I know that pain and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.”
“Hayden,” she whispers, but I shake my head no.
“The thing is, if you spend your life wallowing in what life took from you and try to fill the emptiness with whatever is shiny, you lose out on the really good.”
She’s quiet, but I see the pain in her eyes. I don’t know if she will heed what I’m saying to her, but she is listening. That exact moment, Michael’s laugh rings out and I find myself smiling. I turn in that direction, and he and Skull are walking toward us. My heart skips a beat—literally—when I see the love shining in his gaze as he looks at me.
“Beast is happy,” Lucy murmurs and she seems in awe of that, but there’s also a wistful note in her voice.
“We both are.”
“I thought maybe when Latch said he was coming back here…” She shrugs. “They always said he’d never come back here because you hated the club life.”
“So, you thought him coming back here meant that we were having trouble?” I ask surprised. Was Lucy hoping to get somewhere with Michael? In this moment, I can feel nothing but pity for her, because Lucy is smarter than I gave her credit for. She at least knows what her stupidity cost her in the past.
“I…” Lucy’s gaze lands on me, and she’s got the look of a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. Michael and Skull’s voices are getting closer, so I know my time is limited.
“Lucy, I’m going to give you some advice and believe it or not, I really hope you listen to me.”
“O…Okay.”
“When you get a good man, you hold onto him with all you got. You give him the love and loyalty he deserves. If he wants to go to Timbuktu, you follow him, because he’s a good man, because he gives you respect and love and you know that without him, you couldn’t live. You don’t let him go, you don’t let others pull you away from him and most of all—and this is the part I want you to listen to—you never allow anyone to disrespect him.”
“You mean like I let my friends shame me—”
“No. That’s water under the bridge and the biggest loser in that exchange was you. I’m talking about how you let your boyfriend talk about your family. Latch is part of this club, and these men would have your back without question if something happened. That’s a gift. You treat them and your brother with respect. Because trust me when I tell you, if you find yourself at rock bottom it will be this family that reaches down to pull you back up, not that jackass I just met.
“Amen to that Hayden,” Skull purrs.
My body tightens as I look to see him and Beth standing behind me. Michael is standing off to the side, but his gaze is on me, his eyes heated. He doesn’t talk, but that look on his face makes my body feel electrified.
“Michael,” I gasp as he picks me up in his arms, cradling me gently to his chest. “What are you doing?”
“Yo! Skull, keep an eye on the boys for me,” Michael calls out. I bury my head into his chest, and I know I’m blushing beet red. I can hear the others laughing, but I shut it out and hold on to my man.
Beast
I carry Hayden into my room at the club. I always figured they’d given it away, but they haven’t. It’s almost exactly the same, it’s just clean—which I can appreciate.
I let her slide to the floor, holding her gently the entire time. She has a slight blush on her cheeks, her eyes practically glowing as she looks at me. The electricity between us is vibrating in the room. The pull between us has never lessened—if anything, it just gets stronger.
I want to give her sweet words, let her know what she means to me, tell her how she continually surprises me and makes me want to get down on my knees and thank her for loving me. I’m too raw for those words to form. I never was much at communicating what I feel anyway. So, instead, I try to show her with my touch.
I undress her carefully, tenderly, as if she were a great treasure—because that’s exactly what she is to me. We don’t speak. The only sound in the room is the husky exhales of our breath. I kiss her lips, just a graze and a tease, because if I do more than that I will lose myself way too soon. I follow that kiss down along her neck and collar bone as I continuing undressing her. I don’t stop until she’s standing in front of me in nothing but her panties. Her breasts enlarged from pregnancy, the nipples dusky rose, hard with hunger and ripe to suck on. I can’t resist taking one in my mouth and suckling on it, instantly rewarded with Hayden’s cry of pleasure. I force myself to stop, promising to come back soon. Then, I bend down to place a kiss against her stomach, where our child rests, all while moving my hands over her hips to hook my fingers in the waist of her panties.
