Page 25 of Pearl
“The carnage from the road, it still feels heavy. The blood, there was so much, Carver. But we didn’t have a choice, it was them or us. You don’t know the half of it though. There was a guy in the bar where I found the women. He had them locked in the basement and he would have kidnapped me and I, I killed him too.”
I cup her face with my hands, making her look directly into my eyes. “You did what you had to do to survive, and to get them out of there.”
She takes a step back and then begins pacing the room. “See, you think I’m distraught because I’m upset about killing them, but I’m not. This is me, Carver. I’ve never not once regretted killing that psycho in the alleyway. He was evil, I could see it in his eyes. But that’s not why I killed him—or thought I did—or any of the others today. I killed them to defend myself, my crew, and those ladies. And I’d do it over in a heartbeat. I’m just sorry it ended up getting you indebted to the Larussio family.”
“I made that deal to keep you safe and I’d do it again, no matter what. Come here. All this talking, and I still haven’t told you what I brought you up here to say.”
Her eyes open wide,looking up at me with concern, angst, and uncertainty. I push that golden hair away from her bruised face. “I love you, Pearl. Your fierceness, your loyalty, and your heart and I’m glad you feel the same way, because after today, I’m not letting you go.”
Chapter 23
Pearl
All the worry, the fear all the way back to the club, and he’s not letting me go? He loves me. I have no idea how he thinks it will work, with all the mayhem and chaos in our lives, but details are the farthest thing from my mind. He loves me and wants to make it work, no matter that I come with a shit ton of baggage, that I have responsibilities not only to Duchess, but to my chapter, and that he’s indebted to the fucking mafia.
But all of it fades away as his mouth finds mine in a kiss that takes my breath and he swoops me up and carries me to bed. He lays me down, none too gently. “Mine,” he says, pulling his T-shirt from over his head, revealing those lean muscly arms, muscled chest and six pack ab rack that I’m already dying to kiss all the way down to his dick.
He takes my hand as I reach for the edge of my shirt. “Let me. I want to see every inch of you, slow, and take my time torturing every inch of your body, because now you belong to me.” Carver takes his time, but he’s not easy, he’s wicked as sin, torturing my nipples with firm strokes of his fingers, bringing me right to that sweet spot between pleasure and pain before moving south, spreading my legs in the most indecent of ways.
“Mine,” he growls, hungrily feasting as my hips raise to meet his mouth, stroke for stroke of that magnificent tongue, right over the very spot that makes me come completely unglued and scream his name.
Carver is powerful and feral, flipping me with a slide of his hand over my hip and a smack to the ass, positioning me right where he wants me, and driving so deep that he hits the very end of me. My mouth goes slack. Never has it been like this before. Holy fuck, I’m going to come again. “Carver…”
“Not yet, baby, let it build.”
My eyes roll back as he plunges deeper, tipping my hips as he thrusts his cock deep inside, against that special little spot, and when I cry out, he knows exactly what to hit, time and time again. “Now baby, come for me,” he growls.
Our bodies tremble as one, my breathing slowly normalizing until I can no longer feel my heart pounding in my chest. “Carver…”
He kisses the back of my neck, gently rocking us before rolling us to the side, still joined and cradling me in his arms. Carver caresses the side of my cheek. “What, baby?”
I roll over and wrap my arms around him, all the doubt, the concern for the details, everything gone, because in my heart, I know it’s taken a lifetime, but I’ve found the one. “I love you, Carver, and I’m never letting you go.”
His mouth descends and he takes my breath away. “Come hell or high water, you’re going to be my ole lady, and I’m going to take care of you.”
“We’ll take care of each other, no matter what. But my ladies are kind of a package deal, they’re family, Carver. We find a way to make it work?”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way. But first, I’m pretty sure that some heavy celebrating is due.”
My eyebrows raise as he flips me on my back. “Now to explore all the bits I missed the first time around.”
The smell of coffee wakes me and the Arizona sun shining in through a little crack in the blinds tells me it is at least nine a.m. Nobody would be up any earlier than that the morning after one of the shows. I turn to Carver’s side and pull his pillow to me, inhaling his scent. “Where are you off to so early in the morning,” I wonder.
I quickly shower and get dressed, anxious to see how last night went, and if I’m being honest with myself find out where he went. I roll my eyes. Seriously acting just like an ol’ lady for crying out loud, but being apart, even for a short time after finding someone of your very own after- so many years of being alone, is not something I want to do. I may not be little miss Suzy Homemaker, but that doesn’t mean I want to be without my man.
The kitchen behind the bar is empty as I peek my head in the door, but the coffee pot light is on, the pot’s almost half full, and there’s a little white note sitting next to it. I frown, walking to it, my heart beating a little faster. He couldn’t have changed his mind about us, not after everything we said, everything we did. I grab the note and read his scrawled handwriting across the paper with haste.
Pearl, There’s something I need to do, I’ll be back by tonight. Love, Carver.
It’s hard not to smile. Love, Carver. It makes my stomach flip like one of the girlie girls I am certainly not, but there’s no doubt that man has captured my heart. I pour a cup of brew and head out to the bar. Onyx slides into the chair next to me.
She turns the coffee cup in front of her repeatedly, slowly, watching it turn and the cream swirl without saying a word. I’ve known her for years and something is on her mind. “What don’t you want to tell me?”
Onyx turns hardened eyes to me and my chest tightens. Whatever is bothering her is bad. Real fucking bad, because Onyx doesn’t let the little shit bother her at all. “Tell me, Onyx.”
She swallows hard before saying a word, making my chest tighten with angst. “Shine, I know what’s wrong with her.”
I inhale a deep breath. Our sergeant of arms has been a rock for years but lately is definitely off her game. Dealing with something personal she’s said, but the look on the face of my VP says it’s more than that. “The fuck she’s been dating. He’s been laying hands on her, Pearl.”
