It was written perfectly across her shoulder. Feelings were flooding my body so quickly I didn’t know which one was which. I couldn’t stop myself running my fingers across it. Checking if it was real. God, her skin was cold. But it was real.
She slowly turned around. “You weren’t meant to see that. Ever.”
I just stared at her, watching her frown up at me, my hand still frozen on her hip. When had she gotten it? Before we broke up or after? Did she regret it?
“Before you even ask, I got it last month.” She looked down at the ground. “Sorry for not getting your permission. You weren’t ever meant to see it.”
She was worried I’d be pissed about her not getting my permission? I had one question. My hand left her hip and I gently lifted her head up. Doubt was swirling around those blue orbs of hers.
“Why?”
“Because it seemed like the right thing to do.”
She said last month. She was with Daniels then. Which meant he knew she had my name tattooed on her. She had gotten it when she was with him. Didn’t that say something?
“You…um…you were with your boyfriend then. Didn’t you stop to think? You said we couldn’t be together.” I was so confused and my words were failing me.
“It’s a tattoo, not a big deal. You’ve got my name.” She left my grip and headed for the bed, sitting on the edge. She was shrugging this off like it wasn’t a big deal?
It was a huge deal.
“I’ve got your name because I love you. Always will. You’re going to be the mother to my kid. My tattoo makes sense. Yours doesn’t.”
Her hand went over her stomach and she looked up. “I told you a long time ago I loved you unconditionally.”
Yeah, I remembered. It was the day I put those men in the ground and was reconsidering my loyalty to the club. She said she loved me unconditionally, and I said I loved the club unconditionally.
The fact that since she said it, we had faced numerous threats, been ripped apart and she had broken up with me, all didn’t seem to matter. All that mattered was my name was on her shoulder forever.
“Doesn’t really matter anymore, I guess. It was a long time ago.” She fell back on the bed. “You were meant to be the love of my life and I really stuffed that up.” It was like she was speaking to herself. “Can you get the lights? I can’t be bothered getting back up.”
Didn’t think it through. Didn’t give a fuck she was with another man. All I wanted was her. All I needed was her. I had to feel her. I had to hear her call out my name again. I had watched her slowly disappear from the club.
Now she was within reach. I was going to hold on to her for dear life. I was going to make her see that we were timeless. I was going to force her to see I still was the love of her life.
She had my name on her shoulder. My name.
Her eyes went wide as I picked her up, moving her from the edge of the bed till she was in the middle.
“Kade, what are you doing?” Her hands were on my shoulders, but she wasn’t pushing me away. I placed her back down, slowly. Enjoying holding her too much.
I knew every inch of her body. I had explored it so many times. I was addicted to the curves and dips of her skin. I moved in between her legs, and she didn’t even fight me. I slowly kissed up her stomach where my son or daughter was growing, then across her cleavage. I heard her take an unsteady breath in as I kissed across her collarbone.
“Kade, what are you doing?”
“Reminding you.” I locked my lips at the base of her neck, sucking, and while I should be happy that she had my name tattooed on her shoulder, it wasn’t enough for me. I wanted to leave a physical mark on her tonight. I wanted her to look in the mirror and struggle to fight how she really felt about me.
I wanted her to want me over him.
“Of?” She was breathless.
I looked into her blue orbs. God, they always had me. Pulled me in. Didn’t she know the power she had over me? One look from her and I was ready to beg.
“Us.” I kissed her lips, they were as sweet as I remembered, possibly even sweeter. But she didn’t kiss me back, which had me pulling back. Did she want me to stop? Of course she wanted me to stop. She has a fucking boyfriend.
My arms were taking my weight as I hovered over her, and I was pulling myself up, coming to terms that she simply wasn’t mine anymore. She had another man. Wanted another body in my position right now. This was the last thing she wanted. Just because she had my name tattooed on her didn’t mean she was coming back to me.
She was never coming back to me.