Page 17 of Her Savior Biker
The simple faith in his voice guts me. This kid still believes I can fix things. Still trusts me to keep his mama safe.
“I’m going to try, buddy,” I tell him.
Aiden nods like that settles it, then climbs into Shannon’s lap with his book. “Read story?”
Shannon looks at me over his head.What happens now?
I don’t have all the answers. But I know one thing for damn sure—I’m not walking away.
Tank can threaten my patch. Mason can send his MPs. The whole damn world can line up against us. I’m done pretending this is temporary. Shannon and Aiden aren’t strays. They’re mine to protect. And I’ll burn everything down before I let anyone take them from me.
After dinner, after Aiden’s bath and bedtime story, the house settles into a quiet that feels too fragile to last. Shannon and I finally have the conversation we’ve been avoiding. She’s curled at one end of the couch, legs tucked under her. I’m in the chair across from her, maintaining distance because getting too close to her is dangerous for my self-control.
“So what’s the plan?” She asks, her voice carefully neutral.
“You can’t run. Not yet. They’re watching the roads, probably have your license plate.” I lean forward, elbows on my knees. “But they don’t know about this place. It’s off the books.”
“For how long?”
“Long enough.”
“That’s not an answer.”
She’s right. The real answer—that I don’t know, that I’m making this up as I go, that I might be risking everything for a woman who could disappear the second her car gets fixed—isn’t what she needs to hear.
“New plan is I stay here. Twenty-four seven until we figure out how to make this go away permanently.”
Her hands still in her lap. “You don’t have to do that.”
“Yeah, I do.”
“No, you don’t.” Her voice gets sharper, walls going back up. “I don’t want to make this weird for you since you don’t want me that way—”
“What?” The word comes out like a gunshot.
Shannon freezes. “I mean, I know last night was a mistake. You made that pretty clear when you compared me to—”
I’m across the room before she can finish, hauling her up from the couch and into my arms. “That’s the problem, Shannon. I do want you.”
Her eyes go wide. “What?”
“I want you so much it’s driving me out of my fucking mind. I want you so much I’m willing to risk my patch, my brotherhood, everything.”
“Then why—”
I cup her face, thumbs brushing her cheekbones. “Because wanting you and being good for you are two different things. Because once I touch you, really touch you, I’m not letting you go.”
Her breath hitches. “I don’t want you to let me go.”
“Shannon—”
“I want you to touch me.” Her voice drops to a whisper, but there’s steel underneath. “I want you to show me what I’ve been missing.”
Something inside me snaps.
I kiss her hard, desperate, three days of want and denial pouring into her. She melts against me, hands fisting in my shirt as she kisses me back like she’s been starving for it. I lift her onto the kitchen counter, and she wraps her legs around my waist, pulling me closer. The heat of her seeps through my jeans, and it’s driving me crazy.
“Reyes,” she breathes against my mouth, and the way she says my name—like a prayer, like a plea—makes me want to give her everything.
