Page 66 of Heartless
His dick isn’t scarred.I bit my tongue and chose against the snarky answer, despite what my tequila-driven urges wanted me to say. “I just wanted to have that moment with him, watching the sunset together.”
“Bo-ring,” Noelle groaned. “Who says you can’t watch a pretty sunset and get pounded at the same time?”
“No one,” I laughed. “I dunno, it just didn’t seem right at the time. I’d rather do it when we can relax and not have this dangerous mission hanging over our heads, you know?”
“Nah, I’m with Noelle on this one,” Tessa chimed in. “There’s no better sex than might-never-see-you-alive-again sex.”
“Thank you!” My sister-in-law flipped her hair smugly.
“But,” Tessa added, “the holy-shit-you’re-alive-and-back-in-one-piece sex is pretty epic too. That’s how this little lady was made.” She patted Vivian’s back.
That last statement seemed to do it. Tessa’s face screwed up in a grimace, her lower lip wobbling as she willed herself not to cry. Noelle and I slid over to her at the same time, sandwiching her between us to wrap mother and baby in a cocoon of love and support.
“It’s okay, mama.” Noelle rested her cheek on the back of Tessa’s head as she rocked her gently from side to side. “It sucks. It’s not fair. Let it out.”
“Why does it have to bebothof them?” Tessa sniffed, accepting my tissue. “Goddamn it.”
“We’re still here,” I said. “I know it’s not the same, but we’re here for you, honey. You’re not alone.”
“I know.” She sniffed again, dabbing at her eyes. “Thanks, guys.”
“And it’s not forever,” Noelle reminded her. “They’ll be back. Both of them.”
The three of us remained linked around each other until Andrea returned, her own eyes puffy and nose running. We opened our arms and brought her into our cuddle pile like she had never left. There we remained until one of Finn’s lieutenants informed us that it was almost go-time, and that Andrea was needed in the conference room.
My heart beat a hard rhythm in my chest as the four of us stood up, hands linked as we followed him to the secured conference room. Noelle glanced at me, blinking back her own tears, but her mouth was hard and determined. I tried to funnel some of her strength to myself. We’d stay with our people until the last possible moment.
The room was already bustling with activity when we entered. Shadow, Jandro, Grudge, and Finn spoke quietly at one end of the table, leaning over a map in front of them. Big G, Reaper, Gunner, and another member of Finn’s army spoke on another side of the room.
A few faces looked up as we stepped into the room. Some were friendly, others tense. It was no secret that most of Finn’s people disagreed with how this mission would be carried out. But they’d never seen how an MC operated before.
“Ah, the woman of the hour,” Finn greeted Andrea with a warm smile. “If you’re ready, we’ll just go over a few things one final time.”
She nodded and broke away from us with a last squeeze of our hands. As Finn led her to look over the map, Shadow made his way over to me.
He was dressed from head to toe in black, for once not wearing his Steel Demons cut, but a plain one with no insignia. Under his cut and long-sleeved shirt, a stab-proof vest created a slightly bulky rectangle over his torso. It did nothing to diminish his intimidating stature, as evident by people getting out of his way as he crossed the room. Nor did it decrease the heat lighting me up as he got closer. I closed my fists until my nails bit into my palms. It was all I could do to not drag him off to another room and rip every piece of armor off of him.
My newest man didn’t stop until his gloved hand reached my face, the other one drawing me against him by my hip. Our lips came together in the most fluid, natural way, like we were made to be linked together. My palms rested on his wide shoulders, toes barely touching the ground like his kiss would send me floating. With the vest between us, it felt like I couldn’t get close enough, no matter how much I pressed my body to him.
“Wait,” he said when we parted for a breath. With a turn of his head, he bit the fingertip of his glove to pull it off. The warmth of his bare hand against my cheek drew a shaky sigh from my chest. It hit me hard then, that this would be the last time in days that he’d touch me.
I leaned into his palm, reaching for another kiss, which he freely gave. The whole room was probably staring at us, but fuck if I cared. I wrapped around his neck tighter, tongue melding with his as I realizedhedidn’t care if anyone watched us either.
“Keep kissing me like that,” I whispered, forehead pressed to his. “And I really won’t let you go.”
He let out a soft hum as he kissed me again, slow and decadent, scar-tissued fingers caressing my cheek. “I’ll be back before you know it.”
“Not soon enough.”
Our surroundings melted away, and I committed all of my senses to memorizing this man. Everything, from the slight flavor of coffee on his tongue to the scent of gunpowder and leather on him. The texture of his skin under my lips and hands and those mismatched eyes drinking me in like he wanted to memorize me in the same way.
“Tell me what you said last night.” My hands trailed down and slid under the stab-proof vest. “I need to hear it again.”
Shadow pulled his other glove off and cupped my face with both hands bare. “I’ll never leave you.” His breath hitched in his chest as he hesitated, then continued. “Because…I’m yours.”
“Say it again,” I pleaded shamelessly, desperately. My chest already ached with missing him. He didn’t have the most dangerous job on the mission, but I knew my stomach wouldn’t stop clenching until I saw his motorcycle riding into Four Corners again.
“I’ll never leave you,” he repeated. “I’ll always come back.”
