Page 31 of Chains

Clearing my throat, I give him a small smile, feeling like I could fly at his compliment. But then negative thoughts infiltrated—he let me go; he broke my heart into a million pieces, and continued to do that even though I thought I had moved on from him.

My mouth seems to work on autopilot today, and I meant the next words that flew out of my mouth as a throwaway comment,

“I bet you say that to all the girls you’ve fucked?” With a gasp of surprise, I instinctively cover my mouth, knowing I couldn't undo the words that had escaped.

I watch in wide-eyed wonder as his jaw ticks, as though he was trying to keep his anger in check.

Without warning, he pushes me against the wall next to the front door; his hand wrapping loosely around the front of my throat. I should be terrified; I should shake in my boots after everything I suffered at the hands of my husband. But I’m not—in fact, I’m burning up with want and need. He doesn’t inspire feelings of hate and revulsion inside of me, despite the way things ended between us.

Heat permeates all around me, and I couldn’t take my eyes from his sky-blue orbs.

“I deserved that, that’s why I’m giving you a free pass for it. The next time you say something like that, I’ll tan your ass the color of your face.” I open my mouth to tell him that there won’t be a next time, but I could already feel my cheeks heating, and I lower my gaze to somewhere in the middle of his chest.

“Eyes to me,” he demands, and without thinking about it, I follow his directive. Blue eyes that have been a part of my dreams for the past ten years stare down at me.

“Contrary to what you believe, I don’t tell every woman I’ve fucked that they’re beautiful. In fact, the one and only time I spoke those words were to you. I will always regret the way I ended things between us, but I thought I was doing the right thing. You were the good girl on the right side of the tracks, I was—well, me.”

I open my mouth to refute his words as utter bullshit, when he places a finger to my lips, effectively stopping the words in my throat. His eyes track my audible swallow and he licks his lips, but instead of lowering his head to my mouth to kiss me, like I expect and want, he releases me and moves a step back. The disappointment I feel is palpable. But then I mentally tell myself off, and push away from the wall.

“Come on, we gotta go if you still wanna go to the vet.”

And just like that, the moment is gone, like it never was. He’s back to the cool, aloof asshole he was when I was married. Well then, two can play that game. I remove the imaginary dust from my jeans and clear my throat. Pushing aside the tingling feeling in my lips from his touch.

I knew it was a mistake to call Chains. I should’ve just taken an Uber. But, it’s too late now, the mistake has been made, and now I have to live with my decision and tolerate his company.

Finally ready to leave, expecting to be alone, since Chains walked out to his sled, or so I thought, I turn to head toward the front door when I crash headlong into a hard wall of muscle. I lift my head slowly, my hands going to Chains’ chest as I scramble for purchase. A muscle ticks in his jaw, covered by a dark beard. I hear him hiss the words,

“Fuck it.” Before I’m scooped up into his arms, his lips slamming down on my own in a kiss like no other I’ve felt before. Not even when we were younger.

This is a kiss of ownership. Of possession. Something I should fight against now that I’m a free woman. I shouldn’t want or need this.

But I’m not fighting it, far from it. I crave more of it, especially when his tongue explores my mouth, tasting, claiming, and causing me to groan uncontrollably while clutching his shoulders tightly.

It’s only when I hear the muffled meows of the kitten, that reality finally wins, and the hazy look in my eyes clears to notice that we’re still in the middle of the living room, with the poor kitten between us.

I can’t help the smile that overtakes my face when I see the kitten’s ginger head peeking through his cut. It feels like my ovaries exploded. How has he left me wanting more from him in just twenty-four hours? Without another glance in my direction, he turns on his heel and walks towards the front door, striding purposefully out to his bike, leaving me standing there.

The impulse to burst into tears hits me, but I control it by biting my lip until the metallic taste of blood fills my mouth. Quickly making sure everything is in its place before I lock the door, shoving the keys into the pocket of my jacket; I reluctantly walk out to his bike. Chains already has his helmet on, and silently passes another, smaller one to me, but I can still tell that he’s watching me closely.

I set my lips into a straight line, jump onto the bike behind him, grudgingly having to wrap my arms around his waist; ignoring the way his abs constrict underneath my touch. And finally, we’re off, riding through the quiet suburbs.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Chains

The brothers and I had been standing around the bar at the clubhouse drinking, when the call came in from Zoe. We’d been planning a patching in party for Spider, Kick’s kid with his ol’ lady, Everleigh. He was patching in together with Snake, Bear, our Treasure’s kid, and Spider’s best friend—they’d both been prospects together, and it only seemed fair to patch them in together.

Because of everything that’s happened with Storm, we’re waiting to have the party next week. He’s been responding well to the treatment at the hospital, and from what I’ve heard, he’s now awake.

When she called, Zoe’s voice sounded needy, which broke my heart so much that I had left my brothers and ridden like a madman to the house she shared with Lexie.

My cock has been painfully hard ever since Zoe opened the door and let me inside the house. It’s gotten steadily harder, and since the kiss, it’s ready to break out of the confines of my jeans.

The smart thing would be to put some distance between us, otherwise I was going to do something neither of us could come back from. She was still too fragile and recovering from everything that had happened to her. I was ready to make her mine yesterday. But for her sake, I needed to step back, take my time, and not rush her like I want to.

I wasn’t a twenty-one-year-old kid anymore; I knew how to look after my woman now. Plus, there were steadily now more ol’ ladies in the club, and she’s friends with most of them. They’ll be able to take her under their wing and show her the ropes.

When she called, I almost couldn’t wait to go to her, But now, I’m rethinking the whole thing. It kills me not being able to touch her when being so close to her. I could go to one of the sweet butts to assuage the ache I have for her, but I didn’t want to do that, I wanted to start fresh, and with no baggage from our pasts.

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