Page 14 of Scorched King

“Jeez, boss. I’m not sure she wanted to know that much.”

JD glared at Bear and if I wasn’t struggling to maintain control it might have been amusing. But there was one thing I needed to say.

“Actually, I do want to know that. I think—I think it makes a difference.” I stared at JD as I said those words, hoping he understood what they meant to me. I wasn’t unaware what kinds of things an outlaw MC club did, and I had some previous experience that their business was sometimes steeped in violence. But this had been so much worse than I’d ever expected.

What had happened here was on another level and whether it made me a bad person or not, I was glad that he was dead. Maybe that knowledge would let me sleep just a little bit easier.

“I’m not going to share the details with you, but you can definitely rest easy knowing that he is gone and unable to hurt anyone else.”

I blinked. Was that enough? Apparently, it was going to have to be. For some reason that made my eyes water as relief, or guilt, or whatever else emotion I couldn’t quite identify rushed to the surface.

“Don’t cry,” he whispered, brushing his thumb across my cheeks. “Please, baby,” he whispered gruffly.

“I don’t mean to. But it seems like something that happens more often these days than ever before. I hate it.”

“C’mon, Bear. Let’s go get the bags and get things settled. The Prez has got this.”

Bear might have said something in return, but I didn’t hear it. With the intensity in which JD stared at me, I could do nothing but get lost in the vibrant green intensity of his eyes that mesmerized me.

It wasn’t just the eyes though. Everything about him captivated me. It had since the first night I met him stripping at the MC’s strip club. Not once had I ever felt shy about stripping for money. I’d done that and worse to keep a roof over my head and food in my stomach. Things like shame had no place in my world. But this man…

He’d looked at me then much like he looked at me now. With a deep well of hunger that had never been focused solely on me before. It made my breath catch, and my heart pick up speed.

Of course he was handsome. Probably more so than a world-weary, rugged man like him should be. He had the face, the thick, dark hair threaded with gray, and a trim beard. And his form fitting t-shirt and jeans showed off a rocking hard body. He looked so good he could be the poster child for the saying that men get better with age.

But it was so much more than that. He was more.

The confidence he wore like a second skin, and the power he exuded without lifting a finger or his voice. And none of it seemed to come from anger or the pit of evil that lived beneath the skin of so many. That fact drew me in more than anything else. I didn’t exactly lack in confidence, but I’d never been close to anyone like that. Maybe what I needed was a little bit more of that to rub off on me so that I could regain my equilibrium.

“Do you trust me?” he suddenly asked, pulling me from my thoughts.

“Yes,” I immediately responded without thought. That had never been in question. He thought I was angry with him, but it wasn’t anger. “I never blamed you for what happened. Still don’t.”

“You should,” he said quietly. “It was my responsibility to keep everyone safe.” The darkness that lurked in his eyes seemed to take over, and I could see him retreating behind his fortress of walls that he always used to keep me at arm’s length.

I lifted my hand to his cheek and brushed him lightly, the scrape of his beard soft and springy against my skin. “I don’t believe that. Your shoulders are big, but they aren’t that big. No one expects you to carry the weight of the world on them.”

“I’m the president, Sasha. That means exactly that. Don’t worry too much about me though. I can handle it. It’s you who needs taking care of. I need you safe. That means I keep you close for now. Okay?”

I compressed my mouth into a tight smile and nodded my head. He may think he has to be everyone’s rock, but that was exactly the thing that drew me to him even deeper. Someone needed to watch over him too. He had his brothers, but I knew in my gut that it wasn’t enough. A man like him, he needed so much more. And I wanted that to be me more than anything else in this world.

And there lay the real, deep dark problem. I needed him to need me. And not just to keep me safe.

As if he could read my mind, I watched his eyes darken and the hunger I saw deepen. “Sasha,” he whispered a moment before I pulled him down to my mouth, locking us together right there inthe truck. I didn’t know if it was my need that sparked his or the other way around, but either way it exploded in the heat of that touch as his tongue licked into my mouth and took complete and total possession.

While I had a solid feeling that this was a huge mistake, I would not pass up an opportunity, even if it meant the end of our road. It was worth it.

One of his hands moved up the column of my throat, his hands big and strong on my neck, continuing the path until his fingers tangled in my hair. I moaned into his mouth, eager for more.

Oh God, it had been so long since I’d tasted him like this. All white-hot heat and musk and masculinity. We’d shared comfortable moments and casual touches before, but nothing like this—not since that one night…

Now this felt like coming home.

And then it stopped.

JD pulled free of my mouth and stared down at me, both of us breathing hard. He couldn’t deny that kiss. He just couldn’t. No matter what words came out of his mouth.

His hand was still on me. Big and warm. Not to mention too careful for a man who was always trying so damn hard to push me away.

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