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I tilted my head to the side as I studied her. “You were scared of your uncle, but not of me?”
She shook her head. “You won’t hurt me. I can feel it. Here.” She touched her hand to the center of her chest.
I wanted to laugh, but I stopped myself before the sound could leave me. She couldn’t hear it if I did, but that was beside the point. She could feel me in her chest just as I could feel her in my own.
Anyone who didn’t know me usually cowered when they first saw me. When they found out who I was, they damn near pissed themselves. I’d been patched into the MC the same day I turned eighteen. No need to prospect, because I’d already proven myself to my dad and his brothers. I’d already spilled blood for them and my family. Killing Carlo Santino had given me instant respect within the club.
That respect only caused others to fear me. If I’d been patched in so easily, then I must be a dangerous motherfucker.
And they were right. I would put a bullet in anyone without so much as a blink if I thought they were a danger to those I cared about.
Yet Delaney felt none of that fear when she looked at me. But she was right, too. I would gut anyone who harmed her, including myself. There was nowhere safer for this girl than with me.
3
Delaney
With my stomach full and my body relaxed after the heat of the shower, it was hard to keep my eyes open after eating the last bite of the yummy lemon cake Max said his aunt had made for him. The woman had some amazing baking skills, and I now had a new favorite dessert.
My eyes began to drift closed without my permission, and suddenly I was being lifted. Looking up at Max, I willed my heart not to jump out of my chest as I met his intense metallic gaze. “I got you, little one,” I read his lips. “You’re safe here. Sleep.”
Closing my eyes again, I let my head rest on his chest as he carried me through the apartment. Moments later, I felt the coolness of sheets and a plush pillow under my head. My lashes flickered up to take in my surroundings. A lamp had been switched on beside the bed, casting a soft glow across the room.
The bed was a queen with a dark wooden frame. The sheets, pillowcases, and comforter were a deep crimson color. A digital clock on the nightstand beside the lamp told me it was one o’clock. Max’s scent enveloped me as he tucked the comforter up around me, and I snuggled deeper into the pillow.
Before he straightened, he brushed his lips over my forehead. The sweet, innocent touch of his lips to my brow made my heart skip a beat even as tears stung my eyes. I couldn’t remember the last time someone had tucked me in. By the time my parents died, I’d been putting myself to bed for a few years.
When he straightened, I was scared he was going to leave me, and I quickly caught his hand. His brows pulled together as he looked down at me. “Don’t be scared,” he signed.
I shook my head. “I’m not. I…” I hesitated. How did I tell him I wanted him to sleep beside me all night? I felt the safest when he was right next to me. The fear that Uncle Tony would find me had vanished, and all I felt was the kind of peace that had been missing from my life for the past eight years.
Max brushed my hair away from my face, something he’d done several times earlier. The soft sweep of his fingers across my cheek made my entire body heat as an ache throbbed between my legs. It was uncomfortable, and I pressed my legs together, trying to relieve it, only to feel a dampness on my inner thighs.
He lowered his eyes to where I was squirming, and his nostrils flared. One of his hands rubbed over his mouth as hunger filled his gaze. That only made the throb intensify, which caused me to squirm even more.
Dropping to his knees beside the bed, he cupped the side of my face, his thumb brushing over my bottom lip for several excruciating moments. “Do you ache, little one?” he signed, and I quickly nodded. “Me too, baby. But I don’t think you are ready for that. I want nothing more than to crawl into this bed beside you and kiss every inch of your sweet body. I would spend the entire night easing that ache deep between your legs. And one day, I pray you’ll let me. When you’re ready.”
“Max.” My lips formed his name, but I didn’t feel the vibrations in my throat that told me any sound had escaped. Still, his eyes were glued to my mouth, so I knew he understood the plea of my speaking his name.
He leaned in close, lightly touching his lips to my temple, then down to the corner of my mouth. The heat of his breath on my skin made me shiver, and I clenched my legs closed as the throb pulsed to the out-of-control beat of my heart. “Sleep,” he signed. “I don’t want you to have any regrets. When you’re ready, I’ll give you everything you want and need. I promise.”
I liked that he wasn’t rushing me, that he was giving me time to trust him. But for some reason, I already trusted him. More so than any other person in years. I couldn’t put it into words, but there was just something in Max’s eyes that told me every part of myself was safe with this guy.
Including my heart.
But even though my entire body was one achy throb, I wasn’t sure if I was ready for that kind of intimacy. I was a virgin. Did guys even want a virgin these days? One of the girls at school had been telling her friends that she’d had sex with her boyfriend. He’d gotten so pissed because it was her first time and he’d thought she was more experienced, that he’d actually broken up with her over it.
I’d thought the guy was a douchebag, that he’d only been after sex and once he’d gotten it, he’d come up with whatever dumb reason to break up with her. But now, I wondered if Max would get upset that I had no experience. Would he still want me if he knew? Would it turn him off?
He tapped me on the nose, pulling me out of my thoughts. “Sleep,” he encouraged. “I’ll be on the couch.”
Quickly, I sat up, shaking my head. If anyone should be on the couch, it was me. He’d already given me so much. A delicious meal. A hot shower. Fresh clothes. A roof over my head. And now I was taking up his bed? It wasn’t right to steal his big comfy bed as well.
He gently pushed me back down until my head was resting on the pillows. “You are going to sleep in here,” he signed while glaring down at me. “I need you to sleep in my bed, little one.”
“But—”
He captured my hands before I could sign more and kissed each palm before tucking them under the blanket. “Don’t argue. I won’t sleep if you don’t take the bed, and I have to work in the morning.”
