Page 21 of Gunnar

Pippa sucked in a breath, her gaze snapping to mine. Her vivid green eyes were wide with shock and hunger. I wasn’t experienced in sex, but I knew what the look she was giving me meant. “Oh?”

Instead of saying anything else, I tightened my hold on her, needing to wrap her up in as much protection as I could. Not because I didn’t trust the men riding with me. Because I was a jealous bastard, now that I had the woman I wanted. It wasn’t something I’d ever known about myself, but there was no denying the monster inside me. Pippa had caught Chains’s and Hawk’s attention and I found I didn’t like their interest in the woman in my arms.

“Calm down, you jealous bastard.” Hawk chuckled. “We ain’t gonna make a move on your girl.” Then he addressed Pippa. “He don’t treat you right, though, you come runnin’ to one of us. We’ll put the asshole on the straight and narrow.”

Pippa looked up at me, curling her lips in to keep from smiling too much. Which she failed at miserably. “I don’t think I’ll have anything to worry about,” she said, finally giving up and giving me a dazzling smile. “Besides, I’m fully capable of making sure he treats me right.”

“Yep,” I growled. “Gonna have to have a long talk with you when we get inside our room.”

“Can you guys at least wait to get mushy until Bohannon assigns you a fuckin’ room?” Chains sounded put out, but he was fighting another grin.

“Nope,” I quipped. “Sure can’t.”

I leaned in and took Pippa’s lips with mine, thrusting my tongue inside her mouth once before pulling back. Her smile was glorious before she buried her face in my chest demurely. Kissing was as far as I’d ever go where someone might see, but I really liked staking that claim. Even if it was only two of the club members. Putting a claim on Pippa was the most satisfying thing I’d ever experienced to this point in my life.

“Honestly, Chains. It’s like you do it on purpose.” Hawk kept driving until he pulled into one particularly large warehouse. The door was easily wide enough for two semitrailers to back in side by side.

Once we rolled in, the doors shut behind us and we all climbed out of the cage. Bohannon and Torpedo both moved to me with identical grins on their faces. “Good to see you made it, kid. Everything go according to plan?”

I nodded. “That place was evil, Torpedo. We got Pippa out and killed anyone inside or on the grounds. When the other half of Fire and Steel gets back to their clubhouse, they’re gonna go hunting.”

“Ice and Cyclone know the score?”

I nodded. “Yep. We tried to drop any breadcrumbs we could going away from Bones. If they decide to go hunting, they’ll come here. Not to Bones.”

“Good. I got Data involved. He and Knight are working together on this. Between the two of them, we’ll have plenty of heads-up before those guys show up.”

“Torpedo. Bohannon. This is Pippa. Her dad was my cell mate. He might contact you guys at some point. If he does, I’d appreciate you letting me know.”

Bohannon glanced at Torpedo before speaking. “There a problem?”

“Not at all. But Knuckles, a convicted killer who, by his own admission, killed the men who raped and murdered his sister, told me to rescue his only daughter and make her my old lady. Last thing I’m gonna do is not follow up on any call he makes in case he thinks I’m avoiding him. The man will put a hit out on me if he thinks I’m trying to keep him from contacting his daughter to confirm my treatment of her. I ain’t too ashamed to admit I’m scared as shit of the man.”

Pippa chuckled before putting her face against my shoulder but continued to laugh. The other guys laughed outright, and I found I’d missed this so fucking much. The comradery. The ribbing. The brotherhood I’d never found anywhere else in my life. Not even when I played sports in high school. My gaze met Bohannon who was grinning like a loon. He nodded at me, reaching out to give me a firm handshake. “We got your back, brother.”

Everyone else followed suit. Three of the guys I knew from Bones. I figured they’d followed Torpedo and Bohannon, probably to help get things set up around guys everyone was familiar with until they knew they had guys here they could trust. There were a couple from Salvation’s Bane as well. Mostly, there were guys I hadn’t met before. Most of those had rap sheets as long as my arm. And all of them were men I recognized as being loyal to Knuckles. How did I know this? That same tattoo in the webbing of their thumb and forefinger I had. To a man, everyone who had that tattoo gave me respectful nods.

Bohannon’s wife, Luna, took us to the top floor of the warehouse we were in. The place had been converted into an open plan apartment. “All four of my sons are with Kiss of Death now.” I thought that was as much for me as it was for Pippa. “They’re looking forward to seeing Gunnar again and meeting you. Probably wanting to meet you more than they want to see that one.” Luna gave me a little smirk. “For now, think of it as the presidential suite,” she said with a cheeky grin. “Only special people get to stay here. Mainly because the guys think it’s too comfortable. Somehow, it makes them less manly to have a place this big. They own enough of these warehouses to make everyone a top floor flat, but the guys are holding out. I think they’re taking bets on who gives in first.”

“It’s that pesky Y chromosome. Does something to them.” Pippa winked at me, and I’d never been so happy to see a woman flirt with me. She should be scared and fragile. Instead, once she’d slept off the lingering effects of the drug she’d had forced on her, she didn’t seem worse for wear. Which set off all kinds of alarms, but I had bigger problems right now -- because Luna said her goodbyes and shut the door and that left me in this place alone with Pippa.

Speaking of Pippa. She stepped into my personal space and put her arms around my neck. She didn’t kiss me or do anything other than cling to me, pressing her body against mine. Of course, my arms went around her as if I had no control over them.

I had no idea how long I stood there with her, but I had no desire to move. As long as Pippa was in my arms, I could stay close to her. I could protect and cherish her. Maybe it was because I’d been in prison so long, away from human affection. Yeah, I got to see my mother and father and occasionally Hannah or Mama and Pops, but we weren’t allowed to touch, and until I’d held Pippa in my arms when I carried her out of hell, I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed affectionate physical touch.

She looked up at me with tears in her eyes, and I felt like the biggest fucking asshole in the world. Here she was, hurting, and I was losing myself in the feel of her sweet body pressed against me.

“Fuck,” I swore as I used one hand to gently sweep away her tears with my thumb. “I’m sorry, Pippa. You’re hurting and I’m…”

She reached up and put her trembling fingers over my mouth to hush me. “I think we’re both hurting. I also think it’s time to start healing.”

“Tell me what to do, Pippa. I’m gonna need some help here.” I’d never been more serious in my life. I was totally out of my depth.

“Kiss me, Gunnar. Then, just do what feels good because I’m out of my depth, too.”

That was a tall order, but I couldn’t argue. People had been doing this as long as there had been people. I knew the basics. I’d figure it the fuck out. But that wasn’t as much a concern as her well-being. “Are you sure about this, Pippa? We don’t have to have sex now. Or at all, if you don’t want to. I can hold you while you sleep. I can pleasure you. Whatever you need.”

“I want you, Gunnar. Please. Kiss me. We’ll decide what happens after that together.”

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