Page 24 of Catch a King (Five Kings 1)

The waitress returns with a refill and looks at Millie with concern. “You ok now, honey?”

I don’t miss the sharp look she gives me, and Millie laughs softly. “It’s fine, nothing to worry about.”

She leans in and kisses my cheek and the waitress’s eyes widen as Millie giggles, “Lucky for me, I have a good one here. What man would hear his girl cry over a past boyfriend?”

I see a different look in the woman’s eye as she looks at me with appreciation and smiles. “Then I’m glad to hear it. You know, honey, you’re lucky in more ways than one with that one, know what I mean.”

“I am still here.” My voice is a low growl as the women share a smile and Millie kisses my cheek once again. “Lucky me.”

She winks, and the woman heads off laughing and as I feel her leg pressed against mine, it’s all I can do to concentrate on the question she just asked me.

“You were saying.” She wraps those lips around her coffee mug and something shifts inside me. Yes, I need to tread carefully because she could well be the enemy, hell she could be my downfall, but as she looks at me through those gorgeous green eyes, all I can think of is there are worse ways to go. I would rather be ruined by this woman than by a bullet in the head, because that’s what I could expect when I return to active duty. Strangely, I’m not finding that a pleasant thought, where normally I’m keen to get back to my unit by now. After one week with my brother and uncle it’s enough to send me stir crazy and it’s only because of revenge I’m still here at all.

“I’m waiting.” She gently nudges me and I push away the dirty thoughts in my head as I say blankly, “You’ve seen how they live, it’s not for me. I’m not interested in their petty turf wars and dirty money, not to mention the whores who hang around the club and let any one of my brothers dip inside them.”

She stills beside me and now I have my answer. Yes, Millie knows only too well what that’s like and must be feeling mighty uncomfortable right now.

“So, I enlisted to fight a nobler war. Something of consequence; to make a difference and protect our country. I want more than to be a biker getting through the day with whiskey and violence, ending up fucking a dirty whore at the end of it. I want better than that.”

“But you come back, if you hated it that much, you’d stay away.”

I detect the hurt in her voice and know exactly why it’s there and it makes me mad as hell to think of Millie living this life. She doesn’t deserve to be a biker’s sex toy, she deserves more, someone to love her, someone to put her first and tell her she is the most beautiful woman in the world every day of the week.

I shrug. “I come back because it’s my home and the only family I’ve got. They call and I come running because family counts, at least in my world. When they called to tell me Billy was dead, I was given leave to come home. I don’t have to return until I’m battle ready, although that’s pretty tempting right now.”

“How did he die?”

Her voice shakes a little and I ball my fist and feel my nails pierce my skin. “Murdered, shot like a dog in his own clubhouse.”

“And you’re back to find the man responsible.”

I shift and face her and see the concern in her eyes. “Yes.”

I stare at her so hard I wait for a sign she knows something. To wilt under the intensity of a look that I know can drag a confession out of the strongest of men. But Millie is better than that, she’s learned her craft well because she just blinks and says softly, “I’m so sorry, Sawyer, for your father’s death and the fact you find it necessary to go to war to escape reality. Maybe you need this time to set your life back on the right track. We all need that sometimes, space to think, shift our focus and decide what’s best.”

She looks so compassionate it throws me a little. Seeing her staring at me now with innocent eyes, I start to question what my family told me. Maybe she’s not the battle hard Reaper that legend dictates. Perhaps she’s not involved in any of it and it’s just Slade stirring shit because he didn’t get his own way. I suppose the only way I’ll truly know is if I break this woman’s defenses and get inside her head. Then I’ll decide just what I’m gonna do with Millie Raymond.

Chapter 20

Millie

Sawyer surprises me every minute I spend with him. He’s so distant sometimes, and yet when it counts, so open and loving. For some reason I feel safe with him, although god knows I shouldn’t. I wonder what his meeting was about but he’s giving nothing away. What was it Marina told me, ‘The only way you’ll hear about their business is by pillow talk.’ Just thinking of being in Sawyer’s bed makes my breath hitch and my heart beat faster because the more I see of him, the more I like.

We head off after breakfast and Sawyer takes me on a ride, showing me the area and taking some time out from the club.

However, I do have a job to do and he has club business to attend to, so we head back around lunchtime and my heart sinks knowing I’m going to be spending the next few hours cleaning that health hazard of a bar.

We park up and I jump off the bike, but before I go, he grabs my hand and pulls me hard against him. I look up into those dark sexy eyes and he whispers, “Remember, we have to make it look as if we’re together. In the eyes of this club, it’s about physical contact so, I’m sorry about this but…”

He grabs hold of my head and kisses me hard, demanding, rough, biting, licking, ravaging. It’s so intense I lose my mind and as he pushes me against the wall and kicks my legs apart, I feel him push hard into me and am under no illusions this isn’t just for show. I almost groan out loud as his hand pushes under my top and he strokes my breast before pulling me closer, deepening the kiss and sending a raging heat to my core. I’m not messing up the opportunity to return the favor and allow my hands to roam under his tee and enjoy the pleasure of his hard body under my touch. I hear someone laughing nearby, but I ignore them. For some reason, I don’t care this is for show. I’ll take it any way I can because I have been physically aching to be closer to Sawyer all morning and real or not, I’m indulging my fantasy a little.

He breaks off and his breathing is ragged as he growls, “I’m sorry, darlin’.”

“Don’t be.”

“My voice is shaky and I hear the husky tone telling me I’m so turned on right now. I feel his heart thumping against mine as his strong arms wrap around me, shielding me from anyone watching.

He whispers, “I’ve got club business and then I’ll come and find you. We need to work out our arrangement.”

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