Page 42 of Gypsy's Lady
“You can’t say that, not if you didn’t feelsafe in my club’s house. Not if you felt you had to keep guard over Willa, a woman no man in the city would lay a hand on and live.” He shook his head, fingers squeezing the taut muscles of her legs. “I should have taken better care.”
“I-I’ve never had anyone care for me like you do.” Her lips were tremblingandbelatedly, he realized she was near tears, eyes awash in liquid pain barely heldat bay. “I-I owe you everything.”
“You don’t owe me a fuckin’ thing, darlin’. Every breath you take is validation for what I did. I’d do it again, a thousand times, as long as you came out the other end breathing and livin’.” He reached up, cupping each side of her jaw with his hands. Leaningforwards, he pulled her towards him, staring into her eyes and willing her to understand.
“I never realizedwhat it meant to me that you trusted me. Trust me like you do. It means everything, Kels. I will never leave you in a place where you aren’t safe. I’ll never put you at risk. Never, honey. You don’t owe me a thingexcept foryour happiness one day. One day when you can put it all behindyou,when you can look up at the sky without thinking of the days you went without seeing the sun, when youcan take a breath of air and only think of how fresh it smells, not that it’s free. That would be the only payment I’ll ever want.” She pushed into his hands, and he leanedcloser,until their mouths were only a breath apart. “I’ll take better care, darlin’. Promise you.” Tracing the bow of her lips with the tip of one thumb, he pulled in a shaky breath, rocking back and putting some much-neededspace between them.I want her. “You ready to go home?” She nodded, his hands moving in time with her head. “Then let’s go home.”
***
Kelsey
Standing in the bathroom of their third hotel in as many days, Kelsey stared down at the toothbrush in her hand, trying to get it up to her mouth by will alone. She wrinkled her brow, glaring at the unmoving piece of plastic that taunted her, bristlesalready daubed with white paste.
Come on, she thought,move, darn it.
Finally giving up on mental power being enough to shift the toothbrush, she lifted it to her mouth, muscles complaining at even so little movement. She would have never thought riding could be so taxing. Especially since she wasn’t the one doing the hard parts, but only sitting behind Gypsy as he steered the heavy motorcycledown the highway. By day two, she’d found many of her muscles were tired and sore, and the aching she’d experienced this morning demonstrated the longer sherode, the worse it became.I’ll want to stop at a chemist today to pick up some paracetamol. Even Maggie complained about her butt yesterday.
She was meeting Maggie for breakfast today. Kelsey hadn’t been introduced to Maggiebeforethe groupmeeting to begin theirjourney,but found she liked Tugboat’s close companion. The couple wasn’t married—not even fake married like me—but the ties between them were clear to anyone. Both had lost their partners yearsago,and seemed to cherish what they’d found in the other even more because of it.
Slowly working the brush across the surface of her teeth, she idly used the mirror to examinethe room behind her. From where she stood, Kelsey could see the bed and both bedside tables, as well as a glimpse of the dressing table where the televisionsat. She also saw the door that led to the hallway.
One bed, every night. Gypsy slept with her as he had since her rescue. Innocent as if she were a child.
Facing away from her, Gypsy still lay in bed where she’d left him. Long hair downfor a change, it was spread in a fan across the pillows. His bare back down to his thick thighs was on display, exposed when the thin blankets had tangled around his legs. He had one arm thrown wide, a broad hand covering the spot where her body had been a few minutes earlier. He moved slightly, then shifted againandshe watched as his rear shoved into the air another centimeter or two, the muscleson either side of his cheeks clenching and hollowing as he drove his pelvis downwards against the mattress.
She froze in place, plastic toothbrush wedged in her mouth, mint-flavored foam covering her lips.
He moved again, the arching motion of his back sensual before he uncoiled and plunged back down, hips pressed flush against the bed. The frame creaked as he ground his lower half into themattress, muscles in his legs tensing with each shift of his weight. His fingers clenched against the sheet, pulling thewrinkledfabric into his fisted hand.
Again.
He drifted sideways on the mattress, his body creeping towards the side where she always slept. Fingers splayed wide on the sheet, it looked as if he were searching for something.
His hips pumped again, causing his very well-definedbutt muscles to stretch the fabric of his briefs taut as they clenched, pushing his pelvis against the bed.
He groaned quietly, “Kels,” and the rough sound of her name broke the mesmerized spell she’d fallen under. “Jesus,baby.” Faster, his hips moved, lifting and plunging.
Quickly averting her eyes, she scooped water with one hand and splashed it towards her mouth, holding the brush underthe running stream of water with the other. She lifted her head and stared at the woman in the mirror, angled lines of her face still unfamiliar after all this time. She hadn’t gained back all the weight lost in Baxter’s prison, and she knew Gypsy worried about her, wanted her to become some plump thing he imagined she wanted to be. This woman gazing back at her wasn’t the same fluffy-headed ninnywho had been taken by Baxter’s minion. In herhead,she knew this woman, the one who so often felt startled and somehow lost at the same time, was smarter, stronger, and had a better grip on what she wanted out of life. Her heart told her differently and pounded fastinexcitement.
The ghost of her name whispered on the air as Gypsy groaned again,the mattress creaking as he shifted and moved.
So what if what I want is him? That doesn’t make me less of anything.
Kelsey watched as the woman in the mirror smiled, the expression on her face confident and knowing. Not how she saw herself at all, but she liked the look of it.
She whirled and quietly stepped into her boots, fingers checking the back pocket of her jeans to verify the tiny wallet Gypsy had given her was there, along withthe thin room key. Maggie would be in the restaurant already, and she didn’t want her new friend to wait too longforher.
With a final longing glance at Gypsy, she slipped out of the room, easing the door closed behind her.
“Hey, Kelsey,” Maggie called and lifted a hand, waving Kelsey over from where she was seated in a booth along the edge of the restaurant. “So glad you’re joining me forbreakfast.”
Nodding, Kelsey slipped into the other side of the booth, staring down at the plastic mat on the table. It had a confusing array of food options interspersedwithnames so bizarre she wasn’t certain she could order a single dish by name without laughing.
“You guys sleep okay?Tugboatwas complaining about the mattress here. I told him to hush. It was comfortable enough.” Maggie lifteda mug of what looked like tea and sipped. Kelseynodded,her gaze back on the menu. “I couldn’t make heads or tails of their marketing mishmash on that thing, so I ordered a cheese omelet, figured they couldn’t mess eggs up too badly.”
Kelsey glanced up at her to see a smile aimed her direction and realized this was Maggie’s way of trying to help.She really is so nice. “I-I” Kelsey took a breathand tried again. “Th-there’sa lot to get used to.”
“I’m certain there is. Tug told me you haven’t been in America for long. Are you figuring things out okay, honey?”
