Page 22 of What He Wants

I could see a light of understanding gradually soften her expression, deflating the fight right out of her. “Sounds complicated.”

“Not really, babe. Just the way we do shit to keep the ones we love safe. I don’t want to see anything happen to you, either.”

She lay back with a heavy, resigned sigh, and I could tell that I’d won the battle this time. I gave Daisy time to come to grips with the reality of the situation, while I ate up her exposed curves with my hungry eyes. She was built like a woman should be, soft with plenty to fill my hands with, the kind of fleshy curves that could support my pounding weight, let me ravish her like the animal in bed that I was. God help her if I ever got the chance to show her what she did to me, what she made me feel.

Why I was still fighting our attraction, especially now that she was going to be close whether I wanted her to or not, I wasn’t sure. I wanted her under me, but I wanted more with her. And that scared the ever-living fuck out of me. I wasn’t the forever after kind of man. I needed to stick with the club whores who knew what I needed, gave it to me without question, and then moved on to the next brother.

Besides, Daisy deserved more than I could ever give her. And it was obvious that she’d been hurt in the past. I wouldn’t add to it.

“I can feel your eyes on me,” she said softly, not moving.

I grinned. “If you don’t move soon you’ll feel my hands on you.” I reached down and moved my hard dick into a more comfortable position. There was never enough room in my pants when I had a full-blown erection.

Daisy leaned up on her elbows, a sexy little smile on her lips. “I guess I’d better move then, before I tempt you into doing something that you don’t want to do.”

“What makes you think I don’t want to?” I growled, stepping back when she scooted off the bed.

She stood directly in front of me, looking so small and yes, tempting as hell. I sucked in her mild, flowery scent as if it were my drug of choice. “Oh, I have no doubt that you want to,” she said, catching me off guard. “Just not with me, right?” With that, she walked away. “Could you please give me some privacy so that I can dress?”

She couldn’t have been more wrong. Instead of grabbing her and showing her, I left her bedroom. What the fuck was I going to do while she was stuck at the club? Having her so close, still wanting her like fuck, was going to be sheer torture. I suddenly wished that Clay and Jasmine hadn’t hooked up, but Jasmine was exactly his kind of woman, and it hadn’t taken him long to claim her. I didn’t know how long they would last, and I didn’t really care. But as long as they were together, that meant that Daisy would be part of club shit.

Keeping my distance was going to be fucking hard, if not impossible. I’d already half convinced myself that since her association with Jasmine involved her in the club anyway, it was okay for me to act on my fascination for her. Fuck that. Christ. I was smitten with the woman, and it was driving me crazy. It was probably also the reason that I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing when I was around her. I’d never questioned myself before, andneverabout club shit, but this? Maybe I needed to see a fucking counselor for advice.

A snort of laughter escaped me at the idea. My brothers would have had a field day if they’d known the shit that was going through my head. I went to a window in Daisy’s living room, pulling back a curtain to observe the conditions outside. The storm seemed to be dying down a little, thank fuck. Once we got our families settled into the clubhouse, I’d head out with a couple of my brothers to see if we could locate the Trouble Makers that were hiding out in our area.

Lockdown wouldn’t keep me from doing my job and protecting the club.

Bikers weren’t known for letting a little thing like the weather get in the way of their fun, and I knew of a couple of hangouts that would be open and running. If we were lucky, someone had seen something worth mentioning. The civilians in Solon and the surrounding areas counted on us to keep drugs and other illegal shit out of their towns. We donated a lot of time and money as a show of good faith, so they returned the gesture with their loyalty, even if some didn’t necessarily like our presence.

Anything outside our influence could go for or against us.

A movement outside of the house caught my attention. A vehicle was moving slowly down the road, too fucking slowly. It came to a stop in front of the house, but no one got out. Maybe they were lost. The car was a Cadillac SUV, and wasn’t the kind of cage an MC would use. For one, the windows weren’t tinted. The only occupant was the driver, who seemed to be looking toward the house. I narrowed my gaze, but I couldn’t make out if it was a woman or a man. They finally moved on, and I turned when Daisy entered the room.

She was fucking beautiful in a deep green sweater that made her eyes pop and fell to her shapely thighs. Beneath that she had on a pair of figure-hugging leggings tucked into boots that stopped right beneath her knees. She’d braided her hair into a loose, fat rope that settled over the full roundness of her left tit and made my hands itch to run through it until it was a silky waterfall running down her back. In her hand was a small overnight bag.

“Know anyone who drives a Cadillac SUV?”

Her brows drew together into a frown, and eventually she shook her head. “Why?”

I shrugged. “Probably nothing. One just went by. Anything you need to do before we head out?”

Her gaze moved past me to something in the kitchen. “I put on a pot of stew for me and Jasmine. Do you suppose it would come in handy at the club?”

“Food is always appreciated, babe.” My gaze followed her as she made her way to the kitchen. She unplugged the crock pot and picked it up. “I’ll get it.” I walked to where she stood and took it out of her hands. Seconds ticked by as I stood staring down at her, and she stood staring up at me. Words weren’t necessary. It was clear in her eyes that the attraction was still very much there, and I knew as sure as shit that I was feeling the same way. I clenched my teeth and turned away.

Nothing was going to happen.

Yeah, right.

I was screwed.

Chapter 10

Daisy

The place that Big John had taken me resembled what I’d thought an emergency shelter would look like. The tables in the restaurant had been stacked up and replaced with cots. On those cots were pillows, blankets, and personal items that had obviously been brought in by whoever had claimed the cot. The booths along the walls were occupied with mostly women and children, some were eating, and others were playing games. A small TV had been brought in and had been set on a corner booth, where two young boys were playing some kind of video game. No one gave off the appearance of being frightened or put out because of the circumstances.

Some cots had been set up in the bar area, too, but I had a feeling that, due to the atmosphere of the bar, those were meant for the men. At one point, Big John set the crock of stew down and announced that it was for anyone who was hungry. As I followed him I searched for Jasmine, but didn’t find her. Before I knew it, we were entering the clubhouse at the back, where the members were. Heads turned our way, chins came up in what I was beginning to realize was the universal code for “hello” for bikers, and there were signs of blatant appreciation in the eyes of the women present as they landed on Big John with open lust.

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