“Come on, baby, let’s get you to bed,” Ryan coaxed, reaching a hand out for Lily.
She took it without argument and, with a sad smile toward me, followed him out to his truck.
I took the stairs two at a time, finding Ellie looking so fucking tiny in our huge bed, Kodi lying at the foot. He hopped off the moment I entered, coming to greet me before I commanded him to his bed downstairs.
“You look angry,” she commented, assessing me closely.
I took a deep breath in a bid to regain my self-control as I lay down beside her and pulled her into my arms. “I’m fucking furious, baby, but not at you. Never at you,” I assured her. “He’ll never touch you. That’s as close as he’ll ever get again,” I vowed. And even then, it had been way too fucking close. Just knowing he’d been in her old building had my blood boiling. “As a formality, we’ll call the detective who worked your case,” I added quietly. “But my connections back home will likely be of even more help. But that can wait,” I added, pulling her even further into my arms. If I could keep her there permanently, I would. “How about a bath?”
Her arms tightened around me for a moment before she visibly squared her shoulders and pulled back to look at me resolutely. “No. We deal with this now.”
I cupped her gorgeous face in my palms before leaning in to kiss her forehead. “Yes, ma’am,” I agreed against her brow.
After we called Detective Alvarez, who resolved to “look into the matter,” I put Ellie in the bath with a glass of wine, determined to set about my own course of action.
I headed into my office, my phone in hand. It was time to place the call that would set things formally into motion—down a path where the law was ruled by the Knights MC.
“Cole,” I greeted my eldest brother and the club’s president.
“Mason, I was wondering when you’d call,” he replied. Clearly, Gunner had briefed him on the situation, which didn’t surprise me. “There a reason you’ve been letting Gun have all the fun?”
“Wasn’t a reason to bother you until Turner made a move,” I explained. With a club to look after and a family, Cole had more than enough responsibility as it was.
“And he made a move,” Cole surmised darkly.
“He’s in Colorado. Left flowers and a pretty fucking twisted letter at Ellie’s old address.”
“Gun think he has a line on him?” he wanted to know.
“Seems like it,” I replied. “We reported it to the detective on Ellie’s case as well. He said they’d look into it, but I know how that’s gonna go.”
“It’s club business,” Cole growled. “Ellie’s yours and therefore ours. I’ll get with the brothers and we’ll make a plan. I’ll get back to you soon. In the meantime, keep her close.”
“Was planning on it,” I replied firmly. “Thanks, man.”
“You don’t have to thank me. You’re family.”
I ended the call and went in search of my girl. I found her where I’d left her, submerged in bubbles with Kodi standing guard.
“He knows something’s wrong,” she murmured, sounding tired.
“He’s a good dog.” I nodded approvingly, giving him a scratch by the ears. “You ready to get out?”
“It’s either that or become a prune,” she agreed.
I reached for her hand, helping her to stand and trying desperately to ignore the sheer beauty of her form draped in bubbles. I toweled her off, needing to do anything I could to take care of her, before handing her one of my tees. She preferred to sleep in them, and I fucking loved seeing her in my clothes.
She took the Broncos tee I handed her, sliding it over her slender frame. It reached just above her knees, and like always, there was something utterly primal about seeing her in it.
“You ready to go to sleep?” I rasped.
When she looked at me, her luscious lower lip pinned between her teeth, and shook her head, my cock jumped inside my jeans.
“Babe,” I groaned. “I’m trying to take care of you.”
“You are taking care of me,” she insisted, stepping into my space. “And what I need is to feel completely overwhelmed by you. I need you over me, inside me. I just need you, Mason.”
“I will always give you whatever you need,” I swore, pulling her gorgeous body into mine and walking us backward toward the bed. “From that very first night we met, when you ducked in here to escape that asshole downstairs, I dreamed about having you in my bed. It still feels too fucking good to be real,” I murmured.
