AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He keeps his eyes locked on me as he towels off. I quickly wash my body, stepping out of the shower to him holding a fresh towel out to me.
An unfamiliar vulnerability hits me when he reaches for his clothes piled by the bathroom door. Before he can pull them on, I grab his hand, directing him toward the bed.
He doesn’t say a word or argue about going home as his clothes fall from his fingertips.
We settle the same way we woke up in the hotel a week ago, with my head on his chest and his arm wrapped tightly around my back.
I doze off to the sound of his beating heart.
Chapter 22
Drake
I’m frozen in place when I wake with Boomer on my chest. I don’t know what managed to pull me from such a deep sleep, but experience tells me to figure it out quickly.
I notice no noises. I don’t feel another presence in the room. It’s been years since I woke to someone pulling me violently from the bed in punishment for some wrong I committed, but the initial fear takes a moment to go away even after there being no threat.
I know I’m lucky enough to get this time with Alex, and at the same time, my head races through all the reasons why I deserve this. It should have nothing to do with luck.
I’d be a liar if I said I was excited about coming to the clubhouse. I knew I’d get to see him even if it was in passing. Him winking at me while I worked behind the bar tonight was the highlight of my day until he pulled me in for a kiss in the hallway. That tipped the scales.
Then he invited me into the shower, and I was over the moon.
The things he let me do to him?
How in the world did I get so fortunate?
“Hey,” I whisper, giving Alex a little nudge.
As much as I’d like to stay, I know my luck will run out the second he wakes in the morning to find me still in his room.
Part of me wants to stay just to challenge that part of him that insists on remaining hidden, but I know better.
“Hey,” he says, his voice groggy despite the way he rolls his hips against me.
I have to laugh. The man has the stamina of a bull facing a pasture full of cows.
“I need to go,” I whisper, wishing he’d ask me to stay but knowing he never would.
He doesn’t open his eyes as he lifts his head, his lips puckered for a kiss. The sight of it surprises me. It’s an unexpected reaction.
I bend forward, cupping his jaw as I brush my lips softly against his. It’s not a kiss of passion, but familiarity, coated in sweetness and a promise of see you soon.
He settles back on the bed, his breathing evening out before I can get my clothes back on.
I pull my phone from my pocket, noticing that it’s inching close to two thirty in the morning as I use the flashlight to make my way out of the room and into the hallway, so I don’t run into furniture.
I imagine all the highly trained Marines in this place wouldn’t hesitate to jump out of bed and see who’s causing such a disturbance if I were to end up kicking the doorframe or something.
I stand stock-still in the hallway after pulling his bedroom door closed behind me, listening. After hearing nothing for a few seconds, I make my way slowly toward the front door. The clubhouse isn’t pitch black, but there isn’t much light in the room to offer anything more than the shadows of furniture and outlines of windows, backlit by the moon outside.
The parking lot is just as silent, the rows of motorcycles and black SUVs just as impressive as I imagine is intended.
My single cab truck looks out of place, both in size and age as I approach it. There’s a beep noise that comes from my vehicle because I have to unlock it with a key rather than having the luxury of an electronic fob.
Alex is still on my mind as I climb inside. Tonight was perfect, from witnessing the camaraderie of the Cerberus members, to the wink Alex gave me before walking away from the bar. Even the challenge by that new member Bishop was refreshing.
I don’t know how long it will take Alex to fully open his eyes and realize the kind of support system he has, but I hope he does it before he ruins what we have. I’m not like many of the women at Jake’s who freshen up their makeup the second they get a whiff of Cerberus leather. I don’t have any wild dreams about having a permanent connection to the club. A lot do it because it means safety and security. It comes with a certain level of possession, and who doesn’t want to be idolized the way the members obsess over their love interests?
