Page 137 of Scatter the Bones

“Margot, there is nothing I want to do with you that I think you can’t handle.” I close my eyes and tip my head back, searching for the right words to end her fears for good. “Please. Whatever those girls said? Put it out of your mind. It has nothing to do withus.”

Finally—finally—the tension melts from her body. She rests her head against my chest. “Okay.”

“I’m sorry this happened again.” Sorry doesn’t begin to cover it. Furious and murderous are much closer. “I’m angry at myself for not protecting you better. Fuck, I was only ten feet away.”

“It’s weird,” she whispers. “I can’t imagine someone coming up to me and saying such horrible things anywhere else. But in your world, that’s common?”

I swallow hard. “Unfortunately, it happens more than it should.” Her words sink deeper, and I gently turn her to face me. “Wait. What otherhorrible thingsdid they say to you?”

She fiddles with the snaps on the edge of my cut and won’t meet my eyes. “They were sort of specific about your past interests…rough sex, ass play, hair pulling, threesomes. One claimed you fucked her so hard, you bruised her spleen.” She frowns and purses her lips. “But I don’t think that girl actually knows where her spleen is located.”

Her gaze lifts, eyes shining with wicked intent. “I was going to use my knife to show her, if she didn’t shut up.”

My eyes bug. I choke on a laugh. Jesus. Only my girl would say something like that…and mean it.

I’ll fight every one of my brothers on this if I have to, but those three bitches are never setting foot in this clubhouse again.

“They all seemed to agree on your love of threesomes with…Steer?” She frowns since the name isn’t familiar to her. “So that offer Stella made…is that something you’d want to do? Not the filming it part but…”

“No.” I snap the word too hard and force myself to soften. “Christ, Margot. You’ve seen me come unhinged when a guy so much as breathes in your direction. You really think I’d let someone—male or female—touch you?” I snort and shake my head, searching for something—anything—to move away from this topic.

“And one of them said I need to accept that on the nights you’re not with me, you’re probably with one of them.”

“That’s absolutelynottrue. Not since we’ve been together.” I rub my knuckles against her cheek. “Not since you askedmeto be your sex coach.”

She frowns. “But we didn’t agree to those terms until?—”

“Margot.” I meet her eyes, holding her there, needing her to see the truth etched into every word. “I’ve been more than a little obsessed with you since the day we met.”

She stares at me with wide eyes. “I believe you.” The corners of her mouth turn down. “I really want to.”

That cuts deep. But it might be an easy problem to solve.

I’ve got nothing to hide.

“Here.” I pull my phone from my pocket. “Give me your phone.” I hold out my hand and back my way toward the bed, dropping onto the mattress, thrilled to finally be able todo somethingthat might fix this.

She follows, cautious but curious, and reluctantly places her phone in my palm. “Why?”

“I’m adding an app. You’ll be able to see where my phone is anytime you want.” I don’t look up as I swipe through her screen. “And my watch. You’ll have access to my location. My heartbeat. Everything.”

“Why?” She wrinkles her nose. “So I can watch your heart rate spike in real time when you’re having sex?”

“No. Jesus, no.” I stare her dead in the eyes, needing her to hear this. “You’ll feel whenthat’shappening, because I’ll be doing it with you. No app required.”

“This is ridiculous.” She holds out her hand, asking for her phone back. “I’m not going to track you down like a jealous lunatic.”

“Iwantyou to be able to find me, no matter what. I’ve got nothing to hide.” It’s taking forever to log in to my accounts. Back and forth between phones. Email codes. Security questions. What a pain in the ass.

Finally, we’re linked.

She sits next to me, peering at my screen. “Can you track me too?”

I turn, studying her expression. “You want me to?”

“It only seems fair.”

Given her favorite hobby, I probably should’ve done this sooner.

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