Page 7 of Her Feral Biker
“We, being..?” Annalise twisted toward me again.
“None of that.” I took a step forward, pushing her with me until her body pressed to the glass. “Hands on the window, princess. I’ll keep talking if you do what I say.”
“F–”
I leaned down to whisper into her ear. “Or I’ll find a way to punish you if you sass me again. Do you understand me, princess?”
I swore a tiny growl tore from her throat as I released her wrist and slipped an arm around her waist instead, holding her back against me. Annalise’s breath hitched. She pressed her palms to the window.
“You’re going to come in tomorrow and help me clean that,” she said sweetly.
I laughed. “Damn, princess. The things I wanna do with that mouth.” A smile tugged at the corner of my own. Resting my chin on top of her head, I stared at our shadowed reflections in the darkened glass. “Why does your other boyfriend take money from you?”
“I told you?—”
“Mhmm.” I squeezed her soft tummy gently. “I heard what you said before. But what reason does he give you?”
Annalise huffed, the glass before her face fogging slightly. “He says it’s ‘rent’.” Her hands left the window to form inverted commas before they returned to their position. “He wants to buy the shop.”
The smile on my face died a short death. “For what?” I couldn’t imagine why Prinze would want a kid’s clothing store as one of his businesses.
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Last time he told me he’d burn it down with me in it if I didn’t.”
“He saidwhat?” I froze at her blasé tone at the overt death threat I knew his sort would act on. “Princess…”
“What?” she snapped. Her hands on the glass trembled. “I slept in the shop last night. And you– you—” She choked on her words as she shut down on me, her whole body shaking.
I gave her a moment, holding on to her petite frame until she managed to gulp in the air. “And I what, princess?” I murmured, resting my chin on her head, expecting her to really fall apart on me, trying to work out how to pull her back together and not murder the man I wanted to target with my next breath.
Until her words sliced the heart I’d given up on with hers.
“You weren’t here.”
CHAPTER FOUR
LAKE
“You knew I watched you.”
I caught her chin with my hand, tipping her face up to me. Bright eyes stared back at me, curious and devastated. All the things she’d experienced in the last forty-eight hours while I hadn't been there for her.
BecauseI hadn’t been there to scare away the monsters the way she’d relied on me.
Fury roiled in my gut.
“They would have come anyway.” The placating lie tumbled from her lips and settled between us, a bitter and filthy thing.
I bared my teeth. “I told you not to sass me, princess. That’s lost you a kiss. Turn back to face the glass.” My mouth ached to feel hers beneath mine, but that could come later. There would be plenty oflaters.
“I don’t know your name. Or who you’re…with?” I sensed the frown in her tone as she turned away from me, and missed those pretty eyes straight away.
Hell, making her face the glass was as much a punishment for me as it seemed to be for her. But if I didn’t get myself undercontrol soon, I wouldn’t end up fucking her against the shop wall.
I’d do it right here in the open.
“The Savage Kings. My name is Ti– Lake.” I changed tack mid sentence, unsure why I gave her my real name. A name I hadn’t used in years. It sat strangely on my tongue, but she didn't question my hesitation, nodding as she repeated my name, sealing it away for herself.
“Lake,” she whispered. “Now I have a name for the man who has protected me for so long.”
