Page 17 of Malice

“If it weren’t, I’d help. I left early today, and you guys ended up picking up my slack.”

Jake waved him off. “I’m almost done. No point in you getting all nasty too.”

“That ink looks pretty fresh, where’d you get it done?” Malice changed the subject. He’d noticed the large tattoo of the Demented Souls colors on Jake’s back when he’d come in. He wanted to get his own done since he’d recently been patched in, but he didn’t know any artists here in town he would trust to do it.

“Sadist did it as soon as I got patched in. We did it just before I came up here.”

“So I’d have to go to Arizona to see him.”

“Afraid so.” Jake paused then tilted his head to one side. “Well, he might be convinced to come up for a visit, but probably not until Tuck goes back south. Wouldn’t do to have both the president and the VP gone for too long, would it?”

“No, probably not.” He pulled a face as he thought about it. Did he want to wait that long? “I’ll think about it. I’ll text you the passcode for the phone as soon as I get back to the cabin and get it from Bonnie. Let me know if you find anything on it, will you?”

“Will do.” Jake went back to work.

Malice turned and left, thinking about tattoos, not just the club colors, but had a couple other things he’d been thinking about getting done and did he want to wait until Sadist came up to get his done? When might that be? Hm… The question was, did he want to wait that long? He guessed it was possible for him to make a trip down there, but when would he have time? Maybe he should find a good local tattoo artist and just get it done here.

He considered that, along with how he might react should that fuckwad harassing Bonnie show up here as he went to the bunk house and packed up the last few things he hadn’t taken to the cabin the night before. He was reluctant to go back to the cabin so soon, as he’d told Bonnie he’d leave her alone for a while, but he didn’t have anything else he needed to get done, at least not yet.

14

Bonniestoodinthebedroom, staring at the bags Corey had left sitting on the bed he insisted she take, despite her not wanting to put him out. She shook her head, still not sure how to take that he’d acted like it was normal for him to bring her out here and give up his bedroom, the bedroom he’d just gotten, for someone he barely knew.

She didn’t want to unpack and get too comfortable, partly because she didn’t want him to feel like she was taking over his home, and partly because she hoped it wouldn’t last too long.

She shifted the bags off the bed, setting them out of the way, except for the bag with her computer. That she set in the chair sitting in one corner of the room and opened it. It wasn’t the computer she was after, but rather her sketch pad and her box of pencils.

Her things in hand, she left the bedroom and went in search of somewhere to sit, maybe somewhere outside where she could lose herself in nature and her art. She wandered through the whole house, not that there was a ton to see. A single bedroom, a bathroom with a large claw tub below the shower head, the living room, and a small kitchen.

It didn’t look like the kitchen had been used in a long time. She remembered the man Corey had called Lurch saying something about dinner tonight. Did the ranch provide all his meals and he didn’t have to cook?

Granted, he’d just moved in, and he’d said the place needed some work, but she wondered. Unable to help herself, she set her sketchbook and pencils on the table beside an old, worn chair and went into the kitchen. A little investigation revealed some cleaning supplies, so she got busy.

No he hadn’t asked her to, but she hadn’t asked him to help her either and still she was here, in his space because he wanted her to feel safe. Something like cleaning his kitchen wasn’t that big of deal. It would make her feel useful and give her mind time to think about other things.

She didn’t know how long she’d been working when she looked up to find Corey in the doorway, his arms folded across his chest and one shoulder leaning against the door jam, as if he’d been watching her for a while.

“Oh, you startled me. When did you come in?” She gave him a half smile.

“A couple minutes ago. I said something, but you didn’t hear me.” He stood and stepped closer. “You didn’t have to do this. I would have gotten to it.”

“No big deal. I saw that it needed doing, and I have no other way to pay you back for helping me.” Bonnie shrugged as she watched him step closer. Butterflies fluttered in her belly, and she wasn’t sure why. She wasn’t afraid of him. Not even now with the scowl creasing his brow, but he made her feel different. Something she couldn’t put into words, at least not yet. But she liked it. That probably wasn’t good.

“I don’t want you to feel like you owe me. I’m doing this because I couldn’t stand to see the way he treated you. And when he laid his hands on you, it was all I could do not to seriously hurt him. You deserve so much more than the way he was treating you.” He closed the distance between them until he stood so close she could feel the warmth from his body, though he wasn’t touching her. “I don’t want to be like him, but I’m having a hard time resisting this. Tell me no and I’ll stop.” His gaze flicked to her mouth then back to her eyes as he lowered his head slowly, giving her time to stop him.

“Don’t stop.” She didn’t know what came over her. But now that he was here, in front of her, and it looked like he was going to kiss her, she wanted nothing more. Well, she could think of a couple things but all of them started with a kiss. Was this really happening?

His lips brushed across hers, gently at first as if giving her the chance to pull away, to stop him. Then they came back, this time with more pressure. His tongue teased her lips open, then dove in to taste her.

Her arms came up, as if of their own violation, and wrapped around his torso. She sank into the kiss, her body going soft against his and finding his body against hers hot and inviting, if a bit harder than she was used to. Before she was ready, he pulled away, breaking the kiss.

“Damn, you taste like honey.” His voice had gone husky. It made heat pool low in her belly as she gazed up at him. “I love honey.” His words were so soft, she almost missed them as his arm came around her waist and tugged her closer. His head dipped and his mouth covered hers in another searing kiss.

Bonnie held on and tried to keep track of what was going on, but soon lost herself in his kiss. Damn, what would it be like if they ever went past this? Did she want more than a kiss?

If more than a kiss with Corey was as hot, as addicting as the simple touch, then hell yes, she wanted more. But— she lost track of why it might not be the best idea as Corey’s hands gripped her waist and lifted her to sit on the counter that had been behind her. It put her almost eye to eye with him as he broke the kiss, and his gaze searched her face for a moment before he spoke.

“This wasn’t why I brought you here. I don’t want you to feel like it was or that you have to do this.”

---