Page 94 of Redemption (Brazen Bulls Birthright 1)

No. Of course not. Her anger had nothing to do with the MC or its house.

She was pissed because he hadn’t asked first. Because he hadn’t gotten her permission.

Well, fuck. He was right. It was a power play.

Marcella hated to apologize, especially when she’d been really worked up. But she owed Eight one and, as she took a breath to prepare herself, she understood that shewantedto ease the tension between them. She’d been feeling good since this man had stepped back into her life. Since he’d been someone she could talk to, she’d been feeling happy. Not just content, but lighter.

She didn’t want to lose it. Or him.

“Okay. I’m sorry. I’m … not used to not being in charge of him.” Her family helped her raise Ajax, but they followed her lead and didn’t do anything she wasn’t good with. They all were, in some sense, ‘the help.’

But Eight was not. Not if he was sticking.

Ajax already called him Dad. He wanted him in his life.

Eight wanted to be here.I want to be his dad, he’d said.I want you to be my woman. I want this fucking family.

Marcella closed the distance between them. He flinched a little, eyeing her warily, as she raised her hands and set them on his chest, under his jacket. “I really am sorry. I’m glad you told your club about him. I’m glad they were good to him. He obviously had a great time.”

Still giving her a look like he was waiting for her to drop a live grenade in his jeans, Eight stood stock still, tall and broad as a rock wall. “Yeah,” he said gruffly. “He did. It was pretty great to watch him have fun there. He wasn’t shy at all. And Jazz said he’s a quick study. Asks good questions and learns fast.”

Hearing her kid praised would never grow old. Marcella smiled wide and slid one hand up his chest to hook over the back of his neck. “I like how you are with him, you know.”

He frowned. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“You never said that before.”

“Well, it’s true. He’s happy to have you in his life. And I can see it makes you happy to be in his.”

“I guess it does, yeah,” Eight said, marveling. Had he not seen that—his own happiness—until now?

Well, she’d just realized Eight made her happy, so she supposed it shouldn’t be shocking that he, not being especially well acquainted with his own emotions, hadn’t picked up on his happiness, either.

Then he set his hands on her hips. “It’s not just Ajax makin’ me happy, Marce.” A smile grew. When he smiled like that, looking down at her with that gleam in his eyes, he was not just hot but actually handsome. “When you’re not pissin’ me off or clawin’ my guts out, anyway.”

“You make me happy, too,” Marcella answered. “But I’ll probably always try to claw your guts out when I’m pissed.”

“I’ll invest in some Kevlar.” He bent low, brought his head to hers. “This can work, you and me,” he whispered, his lips brushing hers. “It’ll work.”

“I hope so,” Marcella breathed and pressed her mouth to his.

Adding up their weeks together back in the day and their time together now, Marcella and Eight had kissed a lot. Despite their emotional reserve, which had sometimes bordered on outright suspicion, they’d been as physically intimate and open with each other as it was possible to be. But they’d never kissed like this before.

It felt different as soon as their lips touched. They were the same people, the same lips, the same tongues, the same arms around each other. But something was new. This kiss was soft, and deep, Eight’s arms were strong and snug around her, and his skin felt hot and hard and alive beneath her hands. Bursts of pleasure and emotion went through her like a Roman candle.

Eight groaned into her mouth, and his arms clamped like a vise around her. He turned them, found the wall, pressed her to it, but once he had her pinned, he didn’t try to tear at her clothes. He simply leaned in so that they touched at every possible point, and continued the gentle, sensual expedition of her mouth.

In a brief moment when her eyes were open, Marcella saw a change in the light around them. It was subtle, but she knew what it was: Ajax had just turned on his bedside lamp.

She pulled back. “He’s out of the shower.”

Eight gazed at her, still lost in their moment, then blinked and focused. With a deep breath, he cooled his ardor, but he didn’t let her go. “I want to tell him.”

“Not yet.” Marcella put her hands on his chest but didn’t push him away.

“I’m serious, Marcella. I’m stuck. On youandhim.”

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