Page 23 of Knuckles

“We’re good,” she murmured, nestling against me. “But I have one more question.”

I tensed slightly, wondering what else she needed to know. “Shoot.”

“This room.” She gestured around the bare studio apartment. “What is this? You live here?”

I relaxed, running my fingers through her soft curls. “Just a place to crash. We all have one in the compound. Our own space.” I looked around at my room. It had everything a person could need, but it was sparse. “Ain’t had time to do more than get a bed and a couch. Thought we’d take one of the bigger apartments on the upper level in Gunnar’s warehouse or one like it. All the buildings have them, but no one uses them.” I snorted. “We always thought they were too comfortable, and we were manly men.”

“Then why make them in the first place? If you all stay in the smaller rooms.”

“That was Torpedo.” I scowled. “Bastard said all the warehouses were empty and the club had money to burn, so he made fancy schmancy apartments on the top of all of ’em. Saidsomeday” -- I rolled my eyes -- “we’d find women we wanted to spoil. I said any woman who wanted to settle down with a fuckin’ biker needed to learn to live like a biker, to which he laughed in my face. Then Ambrosia, his woman, gave me ‘the look.’”

“Ah. I get it.”

“You do?” I narrowed my gaze at her. “What exactly do you get?”

She rolled over and stretched, her breasts on full display. Those beautifully puckered nipples pointed straight up, and I couldn’t help myself. I rolled over to take one ripe peak into my mouth and sucked. I groaned around her breast, my cock pulsing against her thigh.

“All the old ladies at Bones have ‘the look’ in their arsenal. They take us aside when we find the man they think we’re gonna end up with and teach us how to do ‘the look.’”

“The one that says ‘ain’t you adorable, little fucker?’”

She burst out laughing. “Yeah. That’s the very one.” She snuggled in closer, took a deep breath, then let it out in a contented sigh.

“There are things we still need to talk about,” I said, my voice low. “But they can wait.”

“Mmm,” she hummed against my skin. “Good, because I don’t think I can form coherent thoughts right now.” She stretched before settling down again.

My chuckle rumbled deep in the quiet of the room. “Did I fuck your brains out, baby girl?”

“Don’t get cocky,” she muttered, but I could hear the smile in her voice. “Though… yes. You absolutely did.”

I pressed a kiss to the top of her head, breathing in the scent of her hair. The anger that had been simmering inside me since I saw Dillon hit her was finally quieting, replaced by something else. Something I wasn’t ready to name yet but recognized all the same.

We lay in comfortable silence for a while, my hand stroking her back up and down. I felt her breathing even out, her body growing heavier against mine. Just when I thought she might have drifted off, she spoke again.

“What happens when Gunnar finds out?”

I chuckled, the sound rumbling through my chest. “He’s gonna be pissed as hell. Might try to take my head off.” I kissed the top of her head. “Worth it. So fuckin’ worth it.”

Chapter Ten

Hannah

The rest of the night was spent getting to know each other. Knuckles was an asshole in the extreme, but he was funny as shit. He constantly picked at me. He learned I was a jealous bitch and took full advantage. Without even leaving our little room, he managed to have me swearing to cut out the eyes from every club whore in the compound. He’d laughed so hard he had tears streaming from his eyes when I made the threat under my breath.

He wasn’t mean about his teasing. He just liked getting a rise out of me. Not so much when I turned the tables on him. Before long there was a full-fledged tickle war going on, and Knuckles lost. Epically.

“That’ll teach you to fuck with me.” I gave a satisfied nod as I sat astride him, hands on my hips.

He stroked his rough hands up and down my thighs, the difference in our sizes a huge fucking turn-on. His muscled abdomen was so fucking delicious I wanted to taste every single inch of it. Again. “I guess it will, little hellion.” His cock poked my ass interestedly as he continued to chuckle. “I’m gonna have to teach you a lesson about what happens when you tickle me,” he threatened, though there was no heat in his voice. I was too caught up in the sensation of his hands on my thighs, the way his calloused fingers left trails of fire on my skin, to really pay attention.

“Oh yeah?” I arched an eyebrow, a smirk playing at my lips. “And what kind of lesson would that be?” I leaned down, my breasts brushing against his chest as I whispered in his ear, “Because I will retaliate.”

“OK. Retaliation sounds interesting.” The man really was a hound dog. I loved it.

“The kind that involves me riding you until you beg for mercy.”

His cock jerked against my ass, fully hard now. “Fuck, Hannah,” he groaned, his hands moving to grip my hips. “You’re playing with fire, woman.” He growled, his fingers digging into my flesh.

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