Page 28 of Her Savior Biker
The pain in his voice makes me want to pull him close, but I stay still, letting him find the words.
“She’d get with some piece of shit who’d use his fists. Eventually she’d get out, swear it would never happen again.” His jaw ticks. “Then six months later, there’d be a new guy. Sweet at first. And slowly, bit by bit, the cycle would start all over again.”
“I’m not her,” I say quietly.
“I know you’re not. But Shannon, what if staying with me puts you in danger? What if Mason escalates? What if something happens to you or Aiden because I was too selfish to let you go?”
The anguish in his voice breaks my heart. “That’s not going to happen.”
“You don’t know that.” He meets my eyes, and I see the fifteen-year-old boy who learned that loving someone meant watching them get hurt. “Michigan’s safe. Clean. Rector can give you and Aiden a real life, away from this mess.”
I cup his face, forcing him to look at me. “And what about what I want?”
“It’s not just about what you want anymore.” His voice cracks. “It’s about giving Aiden the childhood he deserves, away frommen with guns and club wars and military police hunting his mother.”
The truth of it is a sharp, painful blow. He’s right. This isn’t just about me. It’s about my son, who deserves better than a life spent running.
“I want to stay,” I whisper. “With you. But—”
“But you can’t. Not if it means putting him at risk.” His thumb brushes my cheekbone. “That’s what makes you a good mother, Shannon. You put him first.”
Tears burn behind my eyes. “So what are you saying?”
“I’m saying maybe Tank’s right. Maybe Rector is the universe giving you an out.” He pulls me closer, resting his forehead against mine. “And I’m saying that if letting you go means you and Aiden are safe, then I’ll do it. Even if it destroys me.”
The confession hangs between us, loaded with sacrifice and love too deep to voice.
“You’d give us up? Just like that?”
“There’s nothing ‘just like that’ about it.” His voice is rough, wrecked. “But Shannon, I waited almost twenty years to feel the way you make me feel. How can anybody expect me to give it up?”
The pain in his voice, the way he’s looking at me like I’m something precious he has to let go—it breaks me.
“Then don’t,” I breathe. “Don’t give us up.”
“I have to think about what’s best for both of you.”
I kiss him then, desperate and claiming, trying to pour all my feelings into the press of his lips against his. When we break apart, we’re both breathing hard.
“We have five days,” I say against his mouth. “Five days before we have to decide. Can we just… have that? Before we plan goodbyes?”
Relief flickers in his expression. “Five days,” he agrees, pulling me down to the blankets again. “We make them count.”
“Every minute,” I promise, straddling his lap, feeling him already hardening beneath me. “Every second.”
This time when we make love, it’s bittersweet. Desperate and tender and full of everything we can’t say. We both know these might be the only five days we get.
When we finally collapse, when he holds me against his chest like he’s memorizing the feel of me, I know he’s already started planning how to let me go. Even if it kills him. Even if it kills us both.
Reyes
Thepre-lunchcrowdatThe Black Crown is thin—just a few truckers grabbing burgers, and me pretending to read emails while keeping one eye on the door. Shannon’s been working the day shift for three days, and I still can’t shake the feeling that something’s coming.
I should be back at the shop, helping Grizz with the Torrino security consult. Should be anywhere but here, watching Shannon move between tables like she belongs in my world. But after last night, after the way she felt in my arms, staying away is impossible.
She’s wiping down the corner booth when the door opens and lets in trouble, wearing a pressed military uniform. Captain Mason Holt walks into The Black Crown like he owns it, and every instinct honed over eight years with the Savage Kings starts screaming. He’s average height, maybe five-ten, with the rigid posture that comes from years of military discipline.Clean-shaven, short brown hair, pale eyes that scan the room, cataloguing threats.
When his gaze lands on Shannon, a predatory flicker crosses his face.
