Page 93 of Renewal After Dark

“It’s collected some dust.”

“It won’t anymore, will it?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Excellent.”

“Are you quite pleased with yourself?”

“I rather am.”

“You’re awfully cute when you’re bossy, but then again, you’re cute pretty much all the time.”

She made a face at him. “No woman wants to be called cute.”

“Is sexy as f-u-c-k better?”

Flustered by the way he looked at her, she said, “Yes, that’s better.”

Duke dropped the helmet to the ground and closed the distance between them, placing his hands on her hips as he worked around Jax to kiss her. “Couldn’t wait another second to taste those sweet lips again.”

He kissed her three more times in rapid succession, until he had her head spinning and her breath caught in her throat. Then he kissed the top of Jax’s head, stepped back and bent to retrieve the helmet. Turning to face her as he put it on, he held her gaze until he had it snapped into place. He flipped open the visor. “You might want to take him inside before I start this thing.”

“Good idea. Be careful.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Stop making fun of me.”

“I’d never do that.”

“Now you’re lying again,” she shot over her shoulder as he laughed.

He waited until they were inside with the door closed before he fired up the loudest engine she’d ever heard.

“Roooooom,” Jax said.

Startled by the noise, McKenzie sat on the sofa with him. “That’s right, buddy. Is that really going to be one of your first words?”

“Rooom. Rooom.”

Smiling, she clapped his hands together. “Room, room.”

“Roooooom.”

She couldn’t wait to tell Duke that he’d inspired one of Jax’s first words.

A day passed slowlywhen you were waiting for something to happen. Duke caught himself looking toward the door every five or ten minutes as he applied the latest portion of a full-back tattoo he was doing for Kyle, who worked as a deck hand on the ferries.

Kyle had been given a few days off after helping take the boats out to sea during the storm and was spending one of them in Duke’s chair.

As he filled in the detail on a set of wings on a raptor, Duke let his mind wander to the night before on the sofa in the apartment. Kissing her had been one of the most thrilling experiences of his life, and he couldn’t wait to do it again very soon. Would she want to pick up where they left off later? Things had gotten pretty heated the night before, but they hadn’t progressed beyond kissing. And why hadn’t they, exactly?

He couldn’t say, but something told him to take it slow with her and let her set the pace. She’d been through a rough ordeal with the last guy she was involved with. Duke didn’t want to press her for more than she was ready for.

“Duke!”

He turned to see Sierra standing behind him.

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