Page 10 of Viper's Single Mom
His hand tangled in my hair, tilting my head for better access. His tongue swept past my lips, and I opened for him, a sound escaping that I didn't recognize as mine. He backed meagainst the porch rail, his body caging me in, but instead of feeling trapped, I felt protected. Surrounded. Safe.
My hands fisted in his shirt, pulling him closer, needing more of this feeling—this alive, burning, desperate feeling I'd forgotten existed. He groaned into my mouth, the sound vibrating through me, pooling heat low in my belly. His free hand found my waist, fingers splaying possessively, thumb stroking the strip of skin where my uniform had ridden up.
The kiss deepened, turned hungrier. Years of careful control shattered as I pressed against him, feeling the hard planes of his chest through the thin henley. He was solid everywhere I was soft, rough where I was smooth. My hands slid up to his shoulders, fingers digging in as he kissed me like he was trying to brand me, claim me, remake me into something that belonged only to him.
And God help me, I wanted it. Wanted to be claimed, protected, cherished. Wanted to let someone else be strong for once.
"Fuck, sweetheart." He pulled back just enough to breathe, forehead pressed to mine. His chest heaved against me, and I realized mine was doing the same. "Been wanting to do that since you walked into my clubhouse looking terrified and fierce."
"This is complicated." My protest would have been more convincing if I wasn't still clutching his shirt, if my lips weren't swollen and tingling from his kiss.
"No, it's not." His thumb traced my lower lip, and I fought the urge to catch it with my teeth. "It's simple. You're mine. I'm yours. Everything else is just details."
"I have baggage?—"
"Which I'm handling."
"My daughter?—"
"Already loves me."
"We barely know each other?—"
He silenced me with another kiss, shorter but no less devastating. This one was softer, almost tender, but still left me breathless and aching. "We know enough. The rest we'll figure out as we go."
A door slammed somewhere down the street, breaking the spell. I remembered we were standing on my front porch, in full view of anyone passing by. The same porch where just yesterday I'd been terrified and alone. My lips throbbed, my skin felt too tight, and every nerve ending seemed to be reaching for him.
"I should go inside. Dinner, homework, normal mom things." The words came out breathy, nothing like my usual voice.
"Lock the doors. Phoenix is on watch tonight, but still." His hand cupped my jaw one more time, thumb stroking my cheek with unexpected tenderness. "Dream of me, sweetheart."
He was on his bike and gone before I could respond, leaving me standing there with swollen lips and shaking legs and the absolute certainty that my carefully controlled life had just exploded.
Inside, Izzy was already at the kitchen table with her coloring books, tongue poking out in concentration.
"Mama, is Mr. Viper your boyfriend?"
The question I'd been dreading all day. "It's complicated, baby."
"Lucy's mom has a boyfriend. He brings her flowers and takes them to dinner." She selected a purple crayon. "Mr. Viper fixed my bike. That's better than flowers."
I smiled at her words.
My phone buzzed as I started pulling ingredients for spaghetti. My heart stopped, expecting Harrison.
But it was an unknown number with a local area code.
This is Viper. Lock your doors. Sweet dreams, sweetheart.
I saved the number, then noticed another text from earlier I'd missed.
Your ex had someone watching the diner. We handled it. You're safe.
My blood chilled. Harrison had someone here. Watching me. Watching Izzy. But Viper had handled it. Whatever that meant in MC terms, I didn't want to know. I just knew that for the first time in eight months, I believed those two words.
You're safe.
I locked the doors, made dinner, helped with homework, gave Izzy a bath, read bedtime stories. Normal mom things, just like I'd said. But through it all, phantom sensations haunted me—the pressure of his mouth, the heat of his hands, the solid wall of his chest. My body hummed with awakened desire, skin sensitive to even the brush of my clothes.
