Page 20 of The Biker's Forbidden Craving

I pull Abby into my chest and hold her close, unsure of what to say to fix any of this, but I know what I’m doing is wrong. I can’t hold her life hostage. She’s too young for me. Dragging in a deep breath, I stare down at the only woman I’ve ever really loved. “Sunny, I want to take you home and make you mine. I want to hide you away until you belong to me for good, but what the fuck am I supposed to do? Your brother isn’t wrong. You have your whole life ahead of you and I’m in a different stage.”Fuck. I hate saying this.“You need someone who’ll still be around for you in thirty years. Someone who can take care of you until the day you die.”

She shakes her head back and forth quickly, pleading in her voice as she says, “I don’t want someone else, Hank. I want you. I don’t want some younger guy who’s going to stumble all over his words and treat me like shit because he doesn’t understand life yet. I want you. I want your worn hands, your strong body, your knowing lips. I want us. Maybe I misunderstood what last night was. I—”

“You didn’t misunderstand anything, Sunny. I want you. I want us.” I rub my hand over her stomach. “I want that belly filled with my babies. I want your heart next to mine every night. I want a life with you. I want it more than anything.”

She steps forward, her stare heavy on me. “Then take that life.Take me. It doesn’t matter what Duke thinks.”

I huff out a heavy breath, my hands digging into her hips as though she’ll disappear if I let go. “You don’t understand. If Ilet myself believe for even a second that you’re mine, I can’t go back. You’ll belong to me, and then we have a Duke problem.”

“I’m not afraid of him,” she says, her heartbeat thumping against her throat.

“You should be.”

Her fingertips draw up my chest slowly and deliberate. “I’m afraid of losing you more.” She glances down at her phone vibrating in her hand. “That’s my lunch break. I need to get back to the record shop.”

Fuck. I don’t want her to leave, not like this.

“When are you off?”

“Four.”

“Okay.” We walk back toward the record shop in silence, her tiny hand brushing against mine as we pass by shoppers and folks around town. I don’t know many people yet, but I know they’d be disgusted if they knew a man my age was in love with a twenty-five-year-old girl.

When we reach the record shop, she looks at me, her gaze soft but broken. “I’ll be okay here for the afternoon.”

“I know, and I want to stay, but I’ll be back in a bit.”

She nods and turns toward the steps inside. And though I know I have to let her get back to work, every sense inside of me screams to grip her tight and hold her safe from the world instead.

The responsible thing to do is let her go. I’ll see her again in a few hours. Whatever I’m feeling can wait, right?

Chapter Nine

Abby

“How was lunch?” Nicole carries a handful of records to the back of the store as I walk in.

“Sorry for all the drama. Turns out, everyone is crazy!”

She laughs as she tucks a few records into their rightful slots. “I figured with the way your brother walked in. How’d it go?”

“I don’t know. He’s overbearing, just like I knew he’d be, but Hank,” I sigh, “I don’t understand what he wants. It’s like he says he wants me but he’s trying to respect my brother too. So now, I’m… I don’t know. I just wish he’d take me.”

“He sounds like a nice guy. I’d be worried if he just railed you without thought.”

I know that’s the right answer, but I’ve never been hornier in my life. Not only that, but I’ve wanted Hank for so long. The fact that he actually wants me too… I can’t know that and not do anything about it.

“Maybe he’s waiting for the right time,” Nicole continues. “There’re so many layers to this. He probably wants you for more than one night.”

“Okay, why do you sound so mature and well adjusted? You’re making me feel bad.”

She joins me at the desk and leans in for a hug, the scent of coconut in her hair. “You shouldn’t feel bad. I got into a hugefight with Aaron and spent the rest of the afternoon fantasizing about rough sex with my big, bad, biker book boyfriend.” She wets her lips. “Is it sad that I’m nearly thirty and I don’t know what it feels like to be touched like someone wants me?”

“Not at all.” I lean into her and offer a hug. I hate that she’s having issues with her boyfriend. She is the most attentive partner. She doesn’t deserve whatever he’s throwing at her. “You should feel wanted. Ditch Aaron and go on the prowl. You’re gorgeous. You’ll find someone so much better.”

She shrugs. “You know that feeling like you’re standing the doorway of your own life, but you can’t walk through?”

“Like you’re waiting for the universe to shove you forward?”

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