Page 3 of Tusk's Fury

She usually talks a mile a minute, like she wants me to know everything going on in her life.

I love that shit. She’s like a breath of fresh air compared to my ex-wife, Gina.

Brittany has had a hard life. That’s why she’s so jealous and fiercely protective over the few good things in her life. I’m grateful that she sees me as something worth fighting over. My woman has fire in her belly, and it shows in how quick she is to knock a club girl back, in the way she’s quick to tell someone off, and most especially in the way she fucks. She’s an uninhibited demon in the sack.

I used to be married and only ended up getting sex on the rare occasion when all the planets were in proper alignment, and I begged hard enough. Turned out it was because she was fucking her sister’s husband. I shove that shit to the back of my mind. Truth be told, if all that hadn’t gone down, then I’d never have ended up at the Savage Legion clubhouse.

I’ve been here for almost a year now, and me and Britt have been together pretty much since the first weekend. I’d have put her in a property cut, but prospects don’t have that privilege because they aren’t fully patched brothers. I’m gonna have to rectify that pretty damn quick, but I like the idea of surprising her with a property cut for our one-year anniversary.

The bar area is packed, so we carry our plates out to the patio to get some peace and quiet. When we’re settled at one of the tables, I ask, “Wanna tell me what’s bothering you, sweetheart?”

She lowers her eyes and shoves the food around on her plate with her fork. “I’ve been trying really hard to act right so you would be proud of me. Tonight, I embarrassed you by letting Silver get under my skin. I’m sorry, babe.” She glances up at me before continuing, “I wanted your patch party to go off without a hitch and spent the better part of the afternoon hanging streamers and making everything nice. I feel terrible for flying off the handle that way and I don’t want to see you ridiculed by the other brothers because I used to be the meanest club girl in the clubhouse.”

I throw my head back and laugh. When my head comes back down, I look her dead in the eyes and say, “You’re agonizing over a bunch of shit you don’t have to worry about. I don’t give a damn what the other brothers think about my choice in women. I think a lot of them would love to have you for an old lady but are afraid they can’t handle your free spirit. As for Silver, she’s never gonna take me from you. I honestly keep forgetting her name until you say it out loud.”

Brittany gives me a rueful look. “How can you forget her name? She dresses in silver all the time.”

I pick up a piece of steak with my fork and tear off a big bite. She stares at me like I’ve got two heads. I point at her with my fork as I swallow the bite. “I don’t pay attention to what she wears, but I can tell you what you were wearing the first night we met.”

Her eyes fly open with surprise. She picks up her knife and fork, slices off a delicate strip of steak, and then cuts it yet again before saying, “Really? I don’t even remember what I was wearing that night.”

I take a little trip down memory lane. “I remember it was my first night at the clubhouse, and I was torn up about my wife cheating and the pending divorce. I remember thinking this clubhouse was full of supermodels—women that wouldn’t be interested in me in a million years.”

Some of her anxiety falls away. She swallows the bite in her mouth and tells me with a smirk, “That just goes to show how much you know about beautiful women. Any woman in this club would consider herself lucky to get you.”

“Shush, woman. I’m trying to tell a fuckin’ romantic story here.”

She just grins and takes another bite of steak.

I take a moment to gather my thoughts before continuing. “You were wearing a black leather skirt, knee-high boots, and a belly shirt that said, ‘I’m all ears.’ I remember the shirt had pink Playboy bunny ears on it. I thought it was cute, and you were drop-dead gorgeous. Seeing you move around the room was like watching a dark tornado—you were flirting with all the brothers, getting into arguments with the other club girls, and getting all the attention. I watched you drinking one shot after another while you kept playing music on the jukebox.”

“Yeah, I’ve always been a bad girl,” she murmurs unrepentantly.

Brittany was a woman who could admit to her flaws. I had to respect her honesty.

“You got into it with another club girl for swiping your drink. She was stupid enough to throw the first punch, and you knocked her upside the head with a beer bottle. When all the brothers were giving her first aid and making a big fuss, you stumbled over to the bar and sat beside me.”

Her face finally lights up because my story makes her remember. “I do remember that night. You were sad, and I wanted to see what your smile looked like, so I took you to one of the rooms with the intention of putting a smile on your face.”

Pride surges in my chest, knowing that she remembers she’s the one who came onto me.

“Only, like you said, I was falling-down drunk. Instead of having sex with me, you took care of me. I remember you running me a bath and helping me wash my hair. The next thing I knew, you were drying me off and carrying me to bed. I woke up the next morning with a raging headache to find you’d left me some painkillers and water on the bedside table along with a note telling me that maybe we could try spending the night together when I wasn’t so intoxicated.”

I keep eating and let her carry on talking.

“I was confused at first about why you didn’t just take what you wanted from me. After I took the pain pills and my headache eased up, I realized it was because you were a gentleman. No one had ever thought of taking care of me before. It was always me doing my best to take care of them. That’s when I knew you were something special, someone I wanted to get to know better. I didn’t drink for a solid week, waiting for another opportunity with you.”

I smile because she isn’t telling me anything I don’t already know. I waited to see if she was going to latch onto another man or wait for me. She waited, and here we are—exclusive for almost a year.

“You were worth the wait, sweetheart. I’m sorry the men you’ve known didn’t treat you right. You deserve all the nice things that life has to offer.”

She grins at me. “Aw, you say the sweetest things, babe. Always remember, you’re the man who restored my faith in humanity.”

I take a drink of my beer as she keeps talking. I’m not normally one for soppy shit, but this woman makes me want to do it all. The sooner I officially make her my old lady, the better.

Chapter 2

Brittany

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