Page 23 of Gatling
I slipped a hand between our bodies, teasing at her clit. Kelsie fell apart, her fingernails biting into my back with a delicious burn. When her pussy locked tight, squeezing the hell out of my cock, I couldn’t hold on any longer.
My balls drew up tight, and I exploded, pulsing inside her.
After it was over, I slumped against Kelsie and started to pull out. But she gripped my ass, holding me in place.
“Stay,” she whispered. “Please. I like…I like the way you feel.”
How could I say no?
Easing my weight down on top of her, I caged Kelsie in with my body and kissed her slowly, lingering.
I couldn’t give her more than tonight. A few hours at the most. But for now, when it was just the two of us in the dark, I would give her anything she asked of me.
Eventually, Kelsie began to doze. I retrieved a warm, damp washcloth from the bathroom, cleaning her up. Then I nestled her naked body in my arms with less than four hours until sunrise.
In the morning, it was going to hurt like a bitch to let her go.
But I couldn’t offer Kelsie the life she deserved. And Noah…
Noah would kill me.
He’d worked so hard to raise Kelsie on his own. To provide for her. To keep her safe. If he saw her fall in love with someone like me—a recluse, with nothing but a shitty cabin to my name, associating with a herd of outlaw bikers—it would be a hard hit for him to take.
I couldn’t do that to my best friend.
And Kelsie needed a man who was capable of providing for her, capable of raising a family alongside her.
I didn’t know the first thing about being a husband, let alone a father.
Back home in West Virginia, I had a big family—six brothers and sisters, four uncles, seven aunts, and countless cousins. But the Bridges were sharp-tongued people, with fiery tempers. Gossip was rampant. Backstabbing was so commonplace that no one batted an eye.
It was every man for himself.
That’s why I spent so much time in the woods. There was no one to smile in your face and call youbrotherorsonwhile they beat you around the head and shoulders with a fire poker, claiming,I’m doing this because I love you.
I closed my eyes and sighed, kissing Kelsie’s bare shoulder.
There was nothing good about me. If Kelsie tied herself to me in marriage, I would only hurt her, bring her down.
I couldn’t dim my sweet sunshine like that.
At the first blush of dawn, I reluctantly slipped out of bed, showered, and got dressed. Kelsie could sleep for another hour at the most, if she was lucky. Then I would drop her off at Noah's place, and he would take her out of town for a few weeks.
I paused at the bed and gazed down at Kelsie’s sleeping form. I brushed my knuckles against her cheek. A soft smile touched her lips and she gave a contented hum.
My heart squeezed and I tugged the covers up over her body before leaving the room.
By the time I dropped Kelsie off with Noah, he already had his car packed for a road trip, ready to go. She hugged me briefly, but tightly, and cast a quick smile up at me before turning away. I watched her climb into Noah’s Jeep, feeling like something was breaking inside me.
One night together was supposed to appease that yearning I harbored for her. Like scratching an itch.
Instead, it just made me want her even more.
With Kelsie and Noah out of town for a while, I set my sights on getting rid of this stalker. Heading to the Blackjacks clubhouse, I hoped Credence would have some good news for me about that license plate number I asked him to run for me.
When I arrived, our VP, Blackbeard, and his wife, Leigh, were necking behind the bar. Again. They’d been married for nearly a year by now, and they couldn’t keep their hands off each other for two seconds.
“Just because your abuela wants a grandkid,” I said. “Doesn’t mean you have to do your dirty business here.”
