Page 19 of Knox

If someone had told me a month ago I’d be in the arms of Danny’s long-dead brother, I’d have laughed until I peed myself. The idea was absurd on multiple levels. Before.

Before I found out I’d been the other woman for our entire thirteen years together. Before Danny left not only me but our children without a backward glance. Before he turned up at the house his father told him he’d sold, the house where our children and I now lived with his father, and threatened to take the children who’d become my whole life.

Before… I realized how much he didn’t love me.

Before I realized how much I didn’t love him.

Now I stood here, in the arms of a man I’d first thought looked exactly like Danny, only older. Harder. Battle-hardened. The thing was, over the last two and a half weeks, I’d learned the difference between Danny and Knox. Knox had no reason to care for me, to care for my children. He simply did what had to be done. He made sure we had everything we needed, including his time.

Knox had been with us every day when I got the kids off to school. He’d been here every evening when they got home. I’d seen him during the day close to the house. Sometimes he worked in the yard. Sometimes, he repaired something on the house outside. When his dad was here, he’d work on things inside. He was always kind and respectful. In fact, this was the first time he’d indicated in any way that he wanted anything from me. Oh, we’d spoken. Talked over breakfast or coffee during a break -- I worked from home, and he often took his breaks with me. Even made sure I stopped for ten or fifteen minutes when I’d been at it too long. Knox was fast becoming my rock. And I’d be lying to myself if I said that didn’t scare me.

“I never cared for Danny. Not really. I mean, he’s the father of my children, and I love them more than life itself, but he’s never been around. Not like I needed him to be.” Did I imagine Knox stiffened? No. With his body so close to mine, I could feel something was wrong. “Did I say something wrong?”

“What?” He looked confused before his eyes widened. “NO! You said nothing wrong, honey. Nothing at all.” He sighed, shaking his head slightly. “I was just thinking about something I told my father when he told me about your relationship with my brother and how Danny was never around.”

“He wasn’t. Not much. I’m beginning to question whether he ever had a job at all. Lord knows I never saw money from it. He didn’t help with anything.”

“This may be the one thing that changes your mind to give me a chance.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Did Lemon tell you anything about what we do in Grim Road?”

“A little. She said sometimes the members have to go on missions away from here. Like a paramilitary group.”

“Yeah. It’s a little more complicated than that, but at one point in time all of us have been in the military. Now that Lemon set her foot down, Rocket and Bear go through each mission sent to Crush. He and his brother, Byte, are our intel officers. They make sure that any mission we take is not only worthy of us risking our lives, but achievable with a reasonable amount of risk.”

“So they’ve made it as safe as they can.”

That surprised me. That Evelyn would see it that way. “Yes. But there are times when I’ll have to be away. I told my father I was afraid you’d be trading one absent man for another.”

“How did he respond?”

I snorted a laugh. “He told me to quit. That a man takes care of his family. As much as I’d love to do just that, I’m part of Grim Road. If they need me, I have to answer the call.” I tightened my arms around her. “But what I can do is make sure there is always someone protecting you and the kids. If you choose to live here, I’ll make sure there is someone from my club here with you at all times. If you’d rather come to our compound to live with me, I’ll take all of you -- Dad included -- away from here. At the compound, you’d have the whole club to protect you.”

“This isn’t something I can give you an answer about now, Knox. For one thing, I haven’t talked to Luke and Aneshya about it. Obviously, Luke wants us together, if what he said earlier was any indication, but there’s a lot to consider.”

“You should consider everything. I’d never push you into something like this without letting you think it through.”

I took a deep breath. The wild, musky scent of him mingled with leather and gasoline like an unorthodox aphrodisiac. “I don’t know what the future holds or what I should do to take care of my children, but I want this moment with you, Knox. If it’s all I ever get, I want to experience it all. Just once.”

“Oh, you’ll get it more than once, honey.” He smirked as he lifted me into his arms and carried me down the hall to my bedroom. “Ain’t just talkin’ ‘bout today either. I will do whatever it takes to convince you to give me a shot.” He entered my room and kicked the door shut. “Whatever I have to do to earn that chance, I’ll do. No matter what.” Then he scowled. “Especially if it has something to do with kicking my brother’s ass.”

That got a surprised giggle out of me. Knox stopped and gave me a stern look. “You think I’m playing, but I’m fuckin’ serious. I intend to make my brother pay for what happened here today, to say nothing of everything else. Threatening to take your kids is a step too far. Especially when he’s the one in the wrong.”

“I don’t want to think about him right now, Knox. I want you to kiss me again. This time, I don’t want you to stop until we’re both so exhausted we can’t do it anymore.”

“Who am I to argue with that?”

He laid me down on the bed, covering me with his large frame as he found my lips with his again. I reveled at being pinned beneath him, loving his weight pressing me into the mattress. Every movement of his body against mine seemed to be designed to drive me insane. It felt like every nerve ending I had was on fire, but in the most delicious way.

Knox trailed his kisses down my neck, flicking his tongue against the sensitive spot where my collarbone met my shoulder. I moaned into his mouth.

“God, Knox. I never expected this. I never expected anything to feel this good.” My words were a mere whisper, but he grunted, understanding me. Probably in more ways than I was prepared for. I hadn’t known Knox long, but his father had fed me a steady stream of accolades and stories. Looking back, perhaps he’d been trying to get me to be more comfortable around Knox. So I’d let Knox have a chance with me? That seemed a little far-fetched, but I had to wonder. Especially with Knox saying his father had pushed him into getting to know me.

“Can’t say I expected it either, honey.” He kissed me again before trailing his lips down my jaw line to my neck. I arched my back as he reached the top of my shirt with his lips. His hands slipped under my shirt, rubbing my skin from the waist of my pants up the sides of my chest.

He pushed my shirt over my breasts and tugged it off, leaving me there in my bra. Knox kissed the swell of one breast while unfastening the bra clasp with his other hand.

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