Page 13 of Heron's Flame

It wasn’t the biggest space, but I didn’t care about that. It was clean, mine, and no one messed with my stuff. After never having my own space for nearly two years, it meant everything to me to be given this room for as long as I wanted. Therewasn’t much furniture besides the table and chairs, the queen-sized bed, nightstand, and dressers. A large closet completed the space, and I shared an attached bathroom with one of the club girls, Pixie.

“What did you want to talk about?” I asked, lifting my hands to rest them on the table. Out of nervous habit, I clenched my fingers together.

Heron noticed. He reached across, nearly touching my hand, but stopped. “I don’t want to touch you again without your permission. I haven’t respected your personal space as I should have.” He adjusted in his seat, leaving his palm on the table close enough I could brush our fingers if I wanted. “I feel strongly about you, Rebel.”

I blinked, tilting my head as I stared at him. His words didn’t shock me, but his patience did. The fact that he didn’t want to push himself on me meant more than I could ever explain. “Thank you for respecting my boundaries.” I bit my lip, nibbling on the soft bottom portion. He made me nervous, but only because I felt something for him too. “I feel, uh, the same,” I blurted in a rush as I felt my cheeks heat.

His lips curved upward in a grin. God. That mouth of his. Full, for a guy’s mouth, and almost sinful. “That’s good because I don’t want us on opposing sides anymore. How about you?”

Nope. “Me either.”

“I want to see where this can go between us. You think you can give us a chance?”

Yes. I sure did. “No more private war?” I teased.

“Nah, Spark. There’s enough fire without adding nonsense to the flames.”

I’d heard it said on more than one occasion that there was chemistry when you met the right person. A spark that lit from within. More than attraction. A lot more than just a willingness to sleep together and get it out of your system. We had that kindof chemistry. I just didn’t want to give in to it before now. “I agree.”

“And just so you know, I do want to touch you. All over. All fucking night. But we don’t have to rush that part. I can be patient.”

I blinked because it surprised me since I didn’t think of bikers or bad boys as patient men. That had everything to do with my ex. Paul wasn’t a kind man. I learned that the hard way. “You sure?”

“Yeah, Love. I am. How about you?”

Omg, yes. Over recent days, I’ve become enamored with him and his sweet but fierce personality. I might have gotten spooked this afternoon, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t interested in Heron. I only reacted the way I did because I had shit to deal with in my past. If he could give me time, we could make this work. “I’m sure.”

“Then that brings us to the next part. Can I hold your hand?”

I think I melted into a little pile of goo. My insides felt squishy and warm, gooey like the center of a cinnamon roll. A silly thought but still sweet. “Yes.”

He brushed his palm over mine, gently entwining our fingers. “I need you to explain to me what happened today, but I’ll go first.”

I nodded, gesturing for him to continue.

“I saw you half naked and nearly lost my shit. I don’t want every fucker in the club to see your body like that. It pissed me off.”

Really? “Why?” Jealousy?

“Because I want you to bemine, and I don’t fucking share, Rebel.”

He wanted me to be his. Wow. But what did that mean? “I’m not super fluent on biker terms, even if I’ve been around them since I arrived here. When you say that, what do you want?”

“You,” he clarified. “Your ass on my bike, riding behind me. You sleeping beside me in my bed. I don’t know when it started, but I do know that I want to be with you. It’s not a one-time deal. That okay?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Good. Now I want to know why you were afraid of me.” He squeezed my fingers in encouragement.

“Before Crow and Bella found me on Undertaker’s land, I ran away.”

He frowned. “Ran from what?”

“Not what.” I dropped my gaze, a little worried about how he would react. “From my ex.”

Heron stilled. I noticed his body go rigid as my head lifted. His dark eyes nearly turned onyx. “What did he do?”

“I don’t think we need to talk about that yet.”

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