Page 67 of Taming Raptor

Her pause made my chest cave as I silently begged her to agree.

“And we’ll talk?”

After I fucked the living hell out of her. “Yes.”

“Just talk,” she clarified.

Fuck.

“Yes, just talk,” I grudgingly agreed. My hawk seemed to ruffle its feathers and sulk.

The little smile that tipped up the corners of her lips sent my heart racing. The effect she had on me told me she meant the world to me more than the words ever could. It made me want to say three other words to her—words that I hadn’t said to a woman in years.

“So, like a date?” The slightly hopeful note in her question didn’t go unnoticed.

“Yeah, baby, like a date,” I rumbled, knowing that it would be our first official date. What we had before, was something different. Sure, I gave her rides on the back of my bike, but I hadn’t treated her like the queen she was. I had a lot to make up for.

My fingers threaded through her chocolate brown hair and clutched tight. Rubbing my nose along hers because I simply liked to have contact with her, I breathed her in, then told her, “Like this look on you, too.”

Her airy little laugh made me want to kiss the fuck out of her.

“It’s actually my natural color,” she admitted.

“Hmm, so little junior will likely have dark hair, but do you think he or she will have your pretty baby-blues?”

“No clue,” she murmured back.

“Want me to pick you up on the bike, or do you wanna cage it?” It rubbed me the wrong way to have her on the bike when she was pregnant. Fuck, I wanted to wrap her in bubblewrap and keep her locked away. Yet I remembered how pissed off the other ol’ ladies had gotten when they weren’t allowed to ride because they were expecting. The last thing I wanted to do was push her away, so I fought the part of me that wanted to demand she ride her ass in the truck.

“While I really miss riding with you, I think I’d like to cage it. If that’s okay, I mean,” she replied. She pulled back to look me in the eye better.

“Whatever you want is what we’ll do,” I told her, but neglected to mention how relieved I was about her decision. “How about I pick you up in a couple of hours? Will that give you enough time to get ready?”

“Yeah, that works.”

I couldn’t keep the grin off my face.

“Okay, then. See you soon.” As I got to my feet, I paused. Then I leaned over and cradled her face in my hand before pressing a kiss to her lips. It was on the tip of my tongue to say the words to tell her how I felt, but I knew I needed to wait. There was too much riding on this—I needed to make it count.

The time it took me to get back to the clubhouse, set up what I needed for later, and drive back to pick Sage up seemed to drag. The second I rode off on my bike, I wanted to go back.

Finally, it was time and as I stood outside Sloane’s house, I hoped I was doing the right thing. Just because she said she loved me, didn’t mean she had forgiven me for making a piss poor decision in how I walked away from her. Especially when leaving her behind put her in danger.

Nervous, I raised my hand to knock, but the door swung open.

“Cameras,” Phoenix explained with a shit-eating grin. “She’s coming down. But bro, I gotta say, this is insane. Who would’ve thought? You and Cookie.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” I grumbled. “And it’s Sage, not Cookie anymore.”

“It means I never saw either of you settling down—and certainly not together. Hell, you avoided her like the plague for years. Then suddenly the two of you were fucking like rabbits and she was exclusive with you. That’s some crazy shit, bro.” He shook his head, but his laughter told me he wasn’t trying to be a dick. Sloane popped up under his arm that held the door, and she gave me a little wave.

“Yeah, well—” but that was all I got out before I caught sight of Sage coming down the stairs. My mouth went dry as I watched her descend.

The long dress she wore had a halter type top that showed off her perfect tits—that had definitely gotten bigger. The silky fabric clung to her legs as she moved, showing off the still amazing figure she rocked. I caught sight of bright pink polish on her toes that peeked out with each step. Her hair was up in a sexy tousled bun with wavy strands framing her smiling face.

“You kids behave. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” Phoenix teased as Sloane dragged him into the kitchen.

“Ready?” I asked.

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