Page 69 of Pulse

And yet, as she gazed at the handsome face on the pillow beside her, she realized she might know what it felt like.

And that was too frightening to deal with.

“When I patched, I took an oath. I made a promise to my brothers. We protect our own no matter what. No. Matter. What. None of us are good men by society’s conventional standards, but we all know the truth. Those men, my brothers, are the best goddamn men in this world. If I don’t come clean now, I’m robbing them of the opportunity to live up to their oath. And I’m breaking mine. I’ve already broken mine by keeping secrets, but they can’t deny I’ve been there for every one of them whenthey needed it. I’ve held their ol’ ladies’ hands. I’ve stitched their wounds. I’ve fought by their sides. Now, I need to warn them of the danger and ask them to return the favor, even if I don’t deserve it. I need to trust in the oath we took and trust in my knowledge that they are better men than I am.”

Her throat constricted until she could barely swallow. Damn him, why did he have to make so much sense?

“Pulse… I’m terrified for you.” A tear slid down her cheek. Very rarely had she let a man see her cry, and she’d never thought it would happen again, but something about this man had all her shields crumbling.

He swiped the tear with a strong yet gentle thumb. “I know. And I need you to do something that’s gonna go against every ass-kicking instinct that you possess.”

Oh shit.She drew back. “What?”

“I need to ask you not to come with me when I talk to Curly.”

“What?”She jerked her head back. “Are you out of your mind? Absolutely not. There is no way I’m letting you do this alone. What if they—”

He kissed her once, hard and fast. “Exactly. What if they… if this goes tits up? You can’t be there, Talia. I won’t put you in danger.”

“Pulse, no.” She shook her head so fast his face blurred. “No.”

“Talia, I’m not asking.”

A hysterical laugh bubbled out of her. “Excuse me? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

His face changed before her eyes. Gone was the warm, generous lover she’d spent the night with and, in its place, the federal agent who’d taken down a vicious cartel. “It means you’re not coming when I tell them,” he said in a hardened voice.

“You have met me, right?” she asked, unable to keep the distraught edge from her voice. “Because the way you’re talking makes it seem like you think I’m someone who takes orders.And most people figure out I’m not after spending about five seconds with me.” She sat up, yanking the sheet up to cover her nakedness.

How fucking dare he think he could tell her what to do.

Pulse also sat, scooted close, and wrapped his arms around her. “It will kill me if something happens to you,” he whispered in her ear. “I could be reading this all fucking wrong, and they might end me right there on the spot.”

And he thought she’d allow that? That she could live with herself if she sat on her thumbs while he ran into the firing squad?

“That’s why you need me there,” she said with a choked sob. The idea of his club coming after him made her sick. “I could—”

“No,” he said, kissing her shoulder. “Baby, we’re a fucking outlaw MC. There’s not a damn thing you could do. If it goes wrong, I don’t want you to see. I don’t want that to be your last memory of me. It’ll break me.”

“Pulse.” The tears flowed freely now. She no longer cared about her pride or how she looked in his eyes. The only thing that mattered was keeping him alive. “You’re playing dirty.”

His lips met the shell of her ear. “When it comes to keeping you safe, I’ll play as dirty as I fucking have to. I’ll cuff you to this goddamn bed to keep you here if I gotta.”

It wasn’t an idle threat. Pulse wasn’t the type of man to make them.

Her heart sank, and she sighed. “Fine,” she whispered as she turned to face him. “But I want you to promise me two things.”

“Anything.”

“Wait a few hours. You’re operating on an empty tank right now. Sleep a little more. You’ll need to be sharp and not fuzzy because we were up half the night screwing around.”

A lazy grin curled his lips and made him look damn near irresistible. “No better reason to be fuzzy,” he said as he leaned in and kissed her neck.

A shiver raced up her spine. She tilted her head to give him better access. What the hell was wrong with her? There he was, ordering her around, being an ass, and preparing to charge into danger, and she was ready to jump him.

“Pulse, this is serious,” she said, pushing him off.

He sobered at once. “I know.” His weary sigh had a twinge of guilt twisting in her stomach. “What’s the second thing?”

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