Page 24 of Pound

“With whom?”

“Pound. Are you okay with that? With him?”

Meri’s brain was a little slow, but she felt there was more to his question than just about not falling off the motorcycle.

“I am if he is.” She opened her eyes and saw how far away from the house he’d carried her. He let out a whistle that split her eardrums and kept striding forward. “Does that bother you?”

Meri knew there were rules where family was concerned. Meri had already decided if she got out of there, she would ask Pound on a date, if you could call it dating.

You don’t see a lot of bikers munching popcorn at the movie theater.

The way of their world, Trip’s and Pound’s, was different than hers, but different wasn’t automatically wrong, it was just… not the same.

“Not gonna lie, it did at first, but I’m coming around. Which is good considering he cla—” Trip’s words were cut off and Meri was lifted from his arms.

“Enough. It’s my place to tell her.” She realized she was in Pound’s arms, and nothing had ever felt so right in her life.

“Get her to Mash. I’m trusting you.” Her brother looked at Pound pointedly. Trip shook his head and Pound seemed to relax a minute amount. Pound nodded once to Trip before turning to stride back the way he’d come. Meri’s gaze never left his handsome bearded face as he walked with her in his arms. He finally halted but didn’t set her on her feet.

Instead, he stared down at her with those blue eyes that she adored. She’d once thought of them as stonewashed-denim blue and being this close just solidified that description.

The intensity with which he looked at her made her very soul feel exposed, but not in a bad way. However, she could see how that look could also be disturbing if directed in anger.

“I know why people think you’re scary.”

His arms stiffened around her, and she could tell he’d clenched his jaw. Even under the facial hair, it showed.

“Do I scare you, Meri? Trip can take—”

She reached up and stroked his beard like she’d dreamed of doing a hundred times. “No, you never have. I just think you try to scare people away on purpose, keep them at a distance. But not me, I don’t scare so easily.”

She took advantage of her uncharacteristic behavior being kidnapped, attacked, and seeing a dead man had caused. Later she could blame it on shock or delirium, even though she knew she’d do it all over again in any situation. Meri was tired of living her life like a nurse, mom, sister, and friend was all she was.

She was a woman too, and it was time she embraced that part of herself with equal measure. She’d always been a hopeless romantic. Chick flicks and Hallmark movies were life. But after Jake, she kept those dreams for others, not herself.

Pound gently set her on her feet. He turned from her and rummaged through the saddlebags on his bike. When he turned back, he held out shoes and a duffel. Her shoes.

At her puzzled look, he rubbed the back of his neck. The way he always seemed to do when he talked to her… when he actually talked to her. “I didn’t know what you’d need, so I brought one of everything.”

Code for, they didn’t know if she’d be dressed at all.

Once her brain caught up with the situation, she handed him back the duffel and bent to slip on her running shoes. “Is this enough to ride? I just want to get out of here.”

Pound nodded. He replaced the duffel but grabbed a jacket and helmet.

Meri couldn’t wait another minute to know what his lips felt like or how his facial hair would brush across her skin. They were about the same height. Meri was five-eight, so Pound couldn’t have been more than five-ten max. She liked that, looking him in the eye, seeing all his features head-on. From his baby blues to his full lips framed by all the yummy facial hair.

She leaned in and tentatively kissed him. Just a peck on the lips. He didn’t return it or embrace her. When she tried to pull away, his lips followed. She wrapped her arms around his waist instead of reaching for his neck. She knew if she showed any discomfort whatsoever, Pound would put a stop to it, and she’d never know what it was like to be devoured by a man like him.

When she felt him wrap around her, she realized why he didn’t pull her into his arms right away. It wasn’t because he didn’t want to, but because his hands were full of the jacket and helmet.

Meri was about to get her wish when she remembered how disgusting she was, her mouth in particular, and turned to the side at the last minute.

“Do you have any idea how long I’ve wanted to do that, to kiss you? But now that I have the chance, I’m disgusting. I mean, I can smell myself.”

She could too. It was one of the first things Meri noticed as Trip carried her out into the fresh air. How foul she smelled. She reeked but hadn’t noticed until her environment didn’t smell the same.

He chuckled and his breath rustled the hair that hung down the side of her face. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve wanted you to do that? Rain check.”

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