Page 39 of Lick

Stretching my back, I moan as the stiffness works through my body. “Your bed is comfortable, nowhere near as hard as the bed at Bianca’s.” My eyes flutter open. “What time is it?”

“Late afternoon.”

I pull myself up, leaning against the metal of the headboard. “Thanks for letting me sleep.”

“It’s a first, Sugar Tits.”

My head swings to him. “What’s a first?”

“I’ve never had a bitch sleep in my bed. Not once. It’s a first.”

Memories of the stories the girls were telling me last night come flooding back. Recounting the sexcapades these walls have held, now knowing that none of them have had the honor of sleeping in Lick’s bed, puts an unknowing worry at bay.

“I feel honored,” I tell him.

“You should.” He laughs, bringing his feet up, and pulls his boots off. Stretching his legs back out, he crosses his now sock clad feet. “I wanted to talk to you a bit.”

The sincerity in his voice has me a little on edge. “Okay…”

“You should know by now, I’m not the sharing kind. I don’t like to talk about shit, and I don’t like to work through shit. I just like to be. That’s who I am, and I’m not gonna start changing now. I don’t see no fucking reason to. That being, I’m going to tell you, and you’re going to listen. You got me?”

“Yeah, I got you.”

“This shit ain’t easy for me.”

I chance a glance at him and see that his arms are crossed, just like his feet, and he’s staring straight ahead. I want to reach out to him. I want to reassure him that whatever he needs to tell me will be okay. But if I do that, then I’m going to chance him breaking his concentration and pulling away from me.

“I need to apologize for the way I treated you back at the M.E.’s office.”

“You don’t–”

“Shut it,” he commands, and I clamp my mouth closed. “That shit wasn’t cool, but I’m not used to having someone there for me. I know your ass is trying to help because you see that I need it, and maybe I do. But you’ve got to give me some space too, you know, not just shove your kindness up my ass every chance you get.” He takes a deep breath. “From the moment, you stepped foot on this compound I knew you didn’t belong. You’re nowhere near right for this club, just like Savannah isn’t meant to be some biker’s old lady.”

I start to object, but he puts his hand up, stopping the objection. “But I guess that’s why she ended up with Sin, because he’s not your typical biker.” I nod in agreement. “I can use the calm to my storm, a smooth to my rough and baby, that’s you. I need a partner to help me in dealing with two kids who just lost their mama. Because I don’t know shit on how to raise kids, but they do need a chance and they do need a family, and I’m their only option.”

Shocked, I turn to face him, a smile plastered on my face. “Are you serious?”

“As a heart attack.”

I leap towards him and throw my hands around his neck. He wraps his arms around my back, pulling me to him. “Thank you,” I whisper.

“Don’t thank me yet. I’m probably gonna be shit at this, but they deserve a chance, and I can’t bear the thought of you not getting what you want.” He nuzzles his nose into my mess of curls. “Forget you heard that last part,” he tells me, making me laugh.

I’m a dick.

Everyone knows this. Giving Jenni what she wants so I get what I want makes me even more of a dick, but I don’t give a fuck. You see, she’s sweet. She’s a bright light in my world that has been dark and bleak for so long. I’m going to do everything in my power to protect her, keep her close and not allow her fate to fall into the hands of a piece of shit who will fuck her and then throw her away. She isn’t trash. She’ll never be. So what if I manipulate the situation and kill two birds with one stone. I make her happy by taking on the kids, and I keep those fucks away from her virgin pussy.

It’s a win, win.

“Are you really going to take on those kids?” Cut asks me.

I nod. “Yeah, I think so.”

“This is what you want?” he asks again.

“Yeah.”

We’re at our weekly jury. Everyone’s been called to the table, just waiting on a few to make it in. Things are heating up with both the garage and the hunting business. One of the big-name mafias on the east coast has a rat who’s high tailed it out west. The last known area is Sin City. The feds are watching their organization close because this rat has proof of some dirty dealing. That’s why we’ve been contacted. It seems our relationship with the Irish has worked its way to the Italians. And we don’t give a fuck about the ins and outs or the whys. We get a name needing to be retrieved, and we quietly bring them in.