Page 91 of Scar

So much had changed. He felt like a new man in Tally’s arms, a man he could one day come to accept as himself. With Tally’s love and guidance, maybe he’d even be able to forgive himself someday. It was a pipe dream, and something Scar had never considered possible before holding her as she slept the night before.

She stopped the constant buzzing in his head and made it possible for him to relax. Who knew what else was or could be possible? His future,theirfuture, held so much potential.

The hog he got from the club’s dealership was aHarley-DavidsonRoad King Special. Thankfully, he hadn’t needed to waste time having a sissy bar attached, as one was already installed on the black hog they’d had on the floor. What had taken him the longest was getting the saddlebags added. The crew that worked in the service department were not members of the club, but they all knew who Scar was.

None were pleased with Scar driving the new hog into the garage bay and demanding two saddlebags be added by pointing at them. Not only did it disrupt their schedule, but it had also scared one or two shitless.

Scar didn’t care. He might not be good at romancing her when it came to flowers and chocolates, and he would never be a conventional partner, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t show his affection and devotion to her in other ways. Giving her a place to store her things and the option to rest her back against a cushion was something simple he could do to ensure her comfort.

And he was twisted enough to get a bit of joy out of the crew members’ fear of him.

He was certainly sore from his ordeal and Tally’s arms and torso brushed up against certain patches of stitches, but just to ride with her at his back was such a freeing, weightless feeling that it was worth the ache.

The helmets Scar had gotten them synced together by Bluetooth so Tally could easily communicate to him. For a good part of the morning, she filled Scar in on what had happened to her from the moment he’d lost consciousness in her apartment.

The only unease he felt while listening to her was at the reminder that she knew how many bodies he’d dropped in Atlanta. But he shouldn’t have worried. Tally quickly assured him that he had done what he needed to do to protect Grayson and avenge her, and she didn’t blame him or judge him. If given the chance, she would have done the same.

They drove late into the afternoon, only stopping for lunch at a small Mom-and-Pop diner and to fill the gas tank. Scar would never store weapons in José’s house because of the kids. After he’d gotten his new hog from the club’s dealership, he’d also stopped by his stash of supplies he kept in Mount Grove. In one of his early days in Mount Grove, Scar had stumbled upon some drunken teenagers in a graveyard. He had no idea who they were or if there was a purpose behind them urinating on that specific gravestone, but Scar’s sudden appearance had caused them to run screaming with their pissing dicks still out of their pants. An empty dug grave next to where the teenagers had been drinking had given him the idea of his Mount Grove hiding place and he’d scoured the cemetery until he found the specifics he needed.

Inside a columbarium unit, he claimed and modified several spaces for his cache of weapons, aliases, and whatever else he felt was needed. Breaking into the church’s records to make it look like the columbarium spaces he’d claimed were already reserved and had been in use for decades was easier than expected because the church’s records weren’t computerized yet.

Tally had her phone. After Keys had looked at it to assure Scar that whatever Tom had done to keep her father from being able to track her was sufficient, Scar had let her keep it. He had no intention of making her cut contact with the outside world and wanted her to be able to keep in contact with Simone and Sissy. So long as it was whatshewanted.

Always what she wanted. The rest of the world could go up in flames for all he cared, so long as Tally was happy, healthy, and safe.

Tally had asked for a bed that night, so Scar would get her a bed. She deserved finery and the fluffiest of mattresses, but her safety was his top priority. Alpha knew about Mount Grove. It wouldn’t take a big leap to assume that the club would return there with Scar after breaking him out of Primis. Per what Keys had told Scar that morning, Alpha had a lot more to worry about than his daughter’s location. However, Scar knew the man well enough to know that he would be seeking revenge and he would blame Scar.

Scar was all for that fight. He didn’t even mind the idea that Tally would be there when it occurred, but he’d be damned if he was caught with his pants down. The fight would be onhisterms whenhewas ready. Not before.

And Scar had every intention of losing those pants as soon as he found Tally a suitable bed. He didn’t know what the night would bring. He knew what he desired, but there was a level of uncertainty that was very uncharacteristic for him.

Couldhe make love to her?

He wanted to. Fuck, how he wanted. He wanted her scorching touch to ignite them into an inferno of passion and desire. He couldn’tsaywhat he was feeling, couldn’t whisper sweet nothings into her ear, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t use his tongue in other ways to prove to her just how precious she was to him.

No, Scar’s hesitation came from a worry ofherreaction, not his.

Tally had felt his face and throat. She knew that he had both external and internal scars, but had she realized theextentof his marred flesh? Had she realized that the marks on his throat were not just in the front?

At the hospital the day before, Tessa had seen him undressed again. Only this time, she had the opportunity and the time to reallylook. And he’d seen it. She’d tried to hide her reaction, both as a professional and out of respect for him, but he’d seen it.

The long slice on his face was always what drew people’s attention. To the point where it was all they saw when they looked at him. Few ever noticed or bothered to notice that he was missing a part of his right ear.

And there was more. All over him.

His current stitches and the bullet he’d taken in April only added to his disfigurement.

Scar didn’t care what people thought of him. Monster, freak… Looks were more important to people than who a person was.Theiropinions didn’t matter to him. ButTally’sdid.

Tally’swas the only one that mattered.

And Tally would see it all. Not with her eyes, but with her hands. She would see more than anyone else. And what if… What if she didn’t like what she felt?

There was a part of him, a crazy, rabid part, that knew Tally’s rejection would destroy him. A part that said he wouldn’t give her theoptionto leave him. He’d staked his claim and she was his, regardless of what she wanted. He was never letting her go.

A different, more reasonable part of him tried to tell him that he couldn’t hold Tally against her will. If she chose to leave him, to reject him, then he would have to respect that decision. That part of him was so minute that its voice was barely a whisper.

He tried to assure himself that neither voice’s opinion would matter because Tally would never reject him. She was smart enough to know, or guess, that neither his body nor his mind was like any other man’s. And she was still here. She’d gotten onto his bike and was preparing to stand with him against her own father, a man she’d known for thirty-two years and who hadraisedher. Yet she was here with Scar, a man she’d known for barely a month.

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