Page 41 of Breaking the Rules (Roaming Devils MC 1)

She glanced up at him. “What?”

“There is nothing you could do that would ever make me think any less of you. I don’t care if you called the fucking police yourself and told them every fucking dirty deed you know.” He kissed the top of her head. “I trust you and I’m going to protect you. I don’t care if that means you fuck up and I have to take the fall myself. Don’t ever worry about what Razor thinks or what my club thinks of you. I’m the only Roaming Devils member whose opinion matters.”

She nodded. “My father is like your father. He wants to keep me away from you.”

Ryker kissed her cheek. “I’m sure your father only wants what’s best for you.”

“And that’s not you?”

He moved away from her. “Not even close.”

****

Ryker settled on the couch with Ella, watching a suspenseful movie. His Chinese order came and while he had every intention of spending the night with Ella in her bed, feeding her, she was against it. Her legs draped over his while she huddled in the corner of the couch with her dinner. He glanced over and smiled at how engrossed she was in the TV.

“They’re going to kill him.” Ella set her food box down on the coffee table and pulled her blanket higher around her. “Why is he going in there?”

Sure enough, her predictions were right and she jumped, squealing when the murderer grabbed the guy in question. Ryker chuckled at her reaction and she moved closer to him, snuggling against his side.

“You said you would protect me, right?”

Ryker wrapped his arm around her. “Always.”

When it was time to sleep, Ella got up and reached for his hand. “You’re staying the night. I’m still sick and I need you to take care of me.”

He grinned. “Now, you’re milking my sympathy.”

She smiled at him. “I need you. What can I say?”

He walked behind her to the bed. She crawled in first and settled against the pillows while he worked on taking his clothes off.

“We need some erotic music.”

“No, we don’t.”

She laughed. “Maybe I should get a stripper pole. Do guys use stripper poles?”

“Guys have their own pole. They don’t need another.” He crawled in next to her, relaxing against the softness of her pillows. She scooted closer to him, laying her head on his chest while she slipped her leg between his. He had no fucking clue how he’d sleep like that, but he didn’t have it in him to push her away.

Sometime during the middle of the night, his phone rang. Ryker groaned and extracted himself from Ella’s warmth to answer it.

“Yeah?”

“We got shit raining down on us hard.” Vampire’s frantic voice filled Ryker’s ear. “Razor wants you at the club.”

He glanced back at the sleeping beauty in her bed. “I’m on my way.”

He clicked off and went to her. She was so damn beautiful that sometimes she took his breath away. The soft light caressing her skin while she slept had him aching with need. God, he was fucked up for even thinking about going there with her again. It was a constant struggle to keep his hands off her. She deserved so much better than him, but he simply wasn’t strong enough to pull away from her.

He leaned down to kiss her forehead. He loved her. It was raw and uncharted territory, but he loved her more than he loved anything else. Ryker dressed and glanced back at her. If he were a stronger man, he’d leave the club. He’d move to the suburbs with Ella and spend every fucking day he had worshiping her. God, he loved the way she felt against him. Loved how much he looked forward to it.

She’d told him the effects of the damn video and it physically hurt him to know that she was upset. He knew it deep inside, but hearing her voice the words was different. It was real. Nothing good would ever come of him being in the club. He would have to constantly be worrying about her and whether or not someone was trying to hurt her. He didn’t fully trust his club members to stay away. Razor was too damn determined to split them up. Her father seemed hell bent as well.

“Hey,” Ella groaned as she rolled to her back. “Where are you going?”

He stood in the middle of her apartment. “I need to leave. Go back to sleep.”

“I thought you were staying all night with me?”

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