Page 58 of Shadow and Skulls

He closes his eyes as his fingers dig into my thighs. He begins to drag me over the growing bulge in his jeans.

“I don’t want our first time to be in an old, dilapidated church,” he mumbles over my lips after pulling me close to him. It makes me smile against them.

“This is my favorite place. Try again.”

I lean away from him a second time, my hands grabbing the bottom of my shirt. His eyes narrow as I pull it over my head.

He sits forward, burying his bearded face between my breasts. “Now you’re just being a naughty, naughty, little shadow.”

It doesn’t take much more convincing, and soon we’re both naked and I’m lowering myself onto him. My head falls back, and I stare at the dove on the ceiling.

I used to hide in the place that is painted above us. I would beg God to let me stay there. He never listened, always sending me back to reality.

Tanks hands are rough and callused against my skin as he keeps a slow pace. “Look at me,” his gruff voice breaks the silence.

When I do, my heart fills with gratitude. I don’t have to hide from him.

“I don’t know how this is happening so fast. We don’t even know each other,” I say quietly, lazily drawing my finger down his chest. It’s such a weird feeling. Being this close to someone I barely know but feeling so completely and utterly comfortable in his presence.

“It’s because we see each other in an entirely different way than most. We see each other in the dark. It’s where I found you.”

Tears run down my face and fall softly on his chest. I wrap my fingers around his shoulders, staring into his eyes. His hands come up to cup my cheeks. He pulls our faces together. The shift of our bodies deepens our connection and makes him pick up the speed of his hips.

“I love you, little shadow,” he says.

For reasons I don’t quite understand, I believe him.

I place my heart in his hands, trusting he won’t break the parts I’ve worked so hard to fuse together.

Chapter Seventeen

Kelsie

Iwalk up the steps slowly, my heart both rejoicing and simultaneously aching. The wood beam above me creaks, and I realize someone is sitting on the porch swing. I sigh when I see who it is.

“He’s telling them tomorrow,” I say quietly. I’m too tired to argue with JD right now.

“I know. He came to see me.”

He lights up a cigarette. I sigh again, lowering myself beside him.

“The women in this family make me feel so fucking helpless sometimes,” he grumbles.

The faint pink on the horizon makes my heart clench painfully. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to put you in a bad position.”

He grimaces. “You didn’t.”

My mouth falls open. “You told my dad?” I accuse, dropping my feet to the floor with a thud.

JD’s hand darts out, and he wraps his fingers around my wrist to keep me beside him. “I didn’t tell Dan. I told Lily. She was a wreck last night. I couldn’t let her suffer.”

“Why hasn’t she told my dad yet?” I wonder out loud.

He releases me. “Maybe she understands you a lot more than you’re giving her credit for. You know her love story didn’t begin with roses and sunshine, either. Sometimes the best love stories are hard fought.”

I look at him. “Love story? You think Tank is part of my love story?”

JD shrugs, running his hands through his hair and messing it up. “I don’t know. I’m just saying there are a lot of love stories in the club, and none of them started out easily. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that she knows.”

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