Page 27 of Taming the Bad Boy

She freezes for a second, goes tense, blinks, then looks at me. “What do you meanyou led themto us? You did this on purpose, Slate? And then, what? You had a change of conscience and decided to go risk your life–?”

“No!” I growl, her words biting into me. Shit, I have to get this under control. I take her hand in mine, squeezing tightly. “As you must know by now, I was a member of the Skulls back when I was a teenager. Before I met Saxon. I had no idea about you or your mom back then.”

Her lip trembles as she looks at me with those vulnerable eyes. “And…?”

And here comes the part that could end things between us. Make her hate me.

“And they weren’t after your father,” I sigh. “They were after me. Your dad’s shop was just collateral damage.”

Ivy pauses. “You?”

I nod. “When you join Smoke and Skulls, you join for life. There’s no leaving like with The Heartless Bastards. So when I did leave, they put out a contract on me. I thought I was safe with a new gang, but one of them must have seen me hanging around at your dad’s shop and figured we were working together. That’s why they left the note and trashed the place.”

Her jaw clenches as self-hatred curls like acrid smoke in my stomach.

“I never meant foranyof this to happen,” I tell her. “I thought if I went to see Viper and told him I’d come back, that they’d leave you alone. Instead…they used me to set a trap for you.”

“You should have told me–”

“I didn’t want to put you in danger, Ivy,” I say, clutching her hand tighter. “I really thought I could fix this…”

I barely even notice the pain in my body now. It’s masked beneath the emotional pain that lies heavily on me like an iron blanket.

She slips her hand from my grip, and silence hangs in the air as she continues to tend to my body with the vodka and gauze. Why won’t she speak? Is she trying not to cry?

Her beauty, even when she’s upset, is sublime. I reach for her, but she moves away. I wait, then try again, and this time she lets me. I brush my fingers over the soft skin of her cheek, not yet wet with tears. “I thought I could fix it, Ivy.”

The corners of her lips twist up so slightly it’s almost indiscernible. “Well…you kind of did. That was a pretty fierce fight you put up back there. And if what Saxon says is true, you basically took them all on yourself.”

A laugh forces its way from my lips, and I groan as it’s accompanied by a stabbing pain in my ribs.

“It was all for you, baby,” I say, throat tight as I stare into her eyes. “I put my life on the line for you, and I’d do it again and again.”

I cup her cheek, gently caressing her jaw as she looks back at me. Her eyebrows are knitted together in concentration, and she’s biting her lower lip. I can practically see her processing as a gleam appears in her eyes, the slight hint of tears.

Finally, she nods. “I believe you…”

A pause.

“And?” I ask, my body tense.

“And…” she says slowly. “And I forgive you.”

And then we’re kissing. I pull her down on top of me, ignoring the aches and pains it causes in my body. My hunger for her overpowers everything. I need her, need to be one with her, show her my love for her is still as strong as ever.

“No more hiding things from each other,” she whispers as I slide my hands beneath her shirt. “No more hiding from my father either.”

“No more hiding.” I smile. “And I’ll pay your father back. I don’t care how long it takes.”

Ivy smiles fully, lighting my heart on fire. “I believe you.”

I grab the nape of her neck and pull her down, crushing her lips with mine. I kiss her hungrily as my cock swells, throbbing with an uncontainable desire to be inside her. I almost lost her, ruined everything. Now I need to have every inch of her again.

“I would never hurt you, baby. All I need is you,” I say as I slide my hand between her legs and apply pressure. She moans. “You and this little gorgeous pussy.”

She clings to me, nodding as her eyelids flutter. “It’s yours, Daddy,” she moans, helping me get her pants off. Daddy? She’snever called me that before, but I like it. “Take it. Use it. It belongs to you.Ibelong to you.”

I’m so desperate to be inside her that I don’t even bother stripping her all the way. I need hernow. I ignore the pain in my stomach as I lift my hips and tug my pants down to my knees. My cock is already rock hard, and I press the crown against Ivy’s panties, which are soaked with moisture.

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