Page 13 of Riding Free

You’re both mine.

The words play on repeat inside my head. I cannot believe he said them, and I also cannot believe I feel relief and even joy at hearing them. I’m not sure how to respond. Saying his name doesn’t seem to be enough. I feel like I should say something else, but I don’t know what to say.

I’m speechless.

Completely and totally speechless. I have no idea what to say in response to this. Pressing my lips together, I rock Thea back and forth slightly as I watch him, unsure of what to say or do.

I take a breath then let it out slowly as I try to think of a response that isn’t an immediate yes, because the reality is that I do not know this man. He’s a man I spent a perfect week with, but we don’t know one another, not really. It was a week of sex and nothing else.

A week with a man who seriously rocked every single part of my world. Even after the week was finished. I’m not sure how I should feel right now. I don’t really know him, but at the same time, I can’t deny that something inside me wants this, too.

Wants him.

I wanted him to want me back, to want to keep me and, more importantly, want to keep Thea, too. She deserves to have a father, to be the center of his universe, because I know that she deserves that.

And he wants that.

At least that’s what he’s saying to me. I want to believe him—so damn badly. I watch as he stands, then walks over to me. He sinks to his knees, his gaze focused on mine. My breath hitches, and I watch as he lifts his hand, then places it on the top of her head.

“You didn’t tell me,” he murmurs.

Tears prick the backs of my eyes. I blink them away, but they’re on the verge of falling. I try to keep them at bay as I look at this man staring down in awe at the baby we made. The baby I brought into this world alone and have raised for the past three months.

“I didn’t know your name or how to find you,” I confess.

I could have tried harder than I did, considering I didn’t try at all to look for him. Really, I’m beyond a coward for not even trying to look for him. I’m pretty sure I could have asked about the name on his vest, the Iron Flame MC, and I could have found him. I know what his club is, being from here. They are notorious.

But I was scared as hell about his reaction. I still am, even though this has gone a million times better than I could have imagined. And maybe I was also a little scared that maybe I’d imagined everything and he really didn’t give a shit about me.

He flicks his gaze to mine. “Brock Mercer,” he states. “That’s my name. You know it now.”

I watch him, wondering what secrets those blue eyes hold and if I should be so accepting of them. Because the reality is that whoever he is, that will become my world. Before I realize what’s happening, he cups my cheek and his thumb slides across my bottom lip.

“Brock,” I exhale, trying out the name on my tongue.

I like it.

It has a much better feel than Hound. I don’t know why, maybe because it feels more intimate knowing his name. His real name. Then I think about Thea and what her name would be.

Thea Tysdal Mercer.

I really like the sound of that. I haven’t given her a middle name. It was hard enough to think of a first name. I was so overwhelmed, I decided to just give her a first and last name and nothing else.

“Thea and Keely,” he murmurs. “My family.”

God.

I don’t know why, but that sounds amazing. I have to press my thighs together just thinking about it. I do know why, though. It’s because it’s all I’ve wanted to hear. I’ve fantasized that he would appear out of nowhere and say he wants us, wants to keep us.

“Brock, are you sure? Because once we do this, there is no going back.”

He shakes his head once. His gaze continues to focus on mine. He doesn’t look anywhere else. We’re the only people in this world right now. I want that to be true. I want everything when it comes to Hound—Brock.

And, God, what a great name. Brock. It’s sexy and strong. It seriously makes me tingle… all over.

“I know there’s no going back,” he states, interrupting my internal thoughts.

He smirks, his gaze still very focused on mine, staying connected to my own. “I’m in this,” Brock states. “Haven’t been able to get you off my mind for the past year. I wish I had been able to find you.”