Ultimate mc romance coll.., p.42
Ultimate MC (Romance Collection), page 42
“But I am,” I said, my voice sounding strangled. “He didn’t even shoot at us. He barely even said anything.” That was the part that I was really coming to grips with still, stupid as that might sound. There had been no final words, no brilliantly wise sayings. He hadn’t even sworn revenge or anything like that. He had just stared at us, clearly knowing that it was all over for him. That he was beyond words.
It was going to be a while before I could get those haunting eyes out of my memory. The way that he had stared up at us, at me, accusingly, even until the end, as the light faded out. That, more than anything, made me feel sick to my stomach. He had died, and it had been because of me.
And it had been so easy.
“But you have to know what might have happened if you hadn’t shot him first,” Brittany pointed out, ever the logical one. “He wouldn’t have spared you. I still can’t believe he let me go.” She was quiet for a second. “And if it hadn’t been Harry that had come after me, it could just as easily have been Representative McCree. I thought I was going to lose you again.”
My arms tightened reflexively around her when she said that. And that was it—that was why it had been so easy to get rid of the man, to shoot him before he’d had a chance to do anything else. Because I could just imagine what Harry would do to Brittany otherwise. And I had promised to protect her.
I hadn’t thought about the fact that that might not be the only problem here. I hadn’t been thinking at all, just reacting. Which seemed to have worked out, this time, but I hoped I would never be in a position like that again. I could barely stand the thought of losing her again.
“Come on,” Brittany said, walking me to the stairs. She walked backward up toward the second floor, her eyes never leaving mine. But instead of the bedroom, she led me through to the bathroom, turning the shower water on hot before stepping slowly out of her clothes.
I smiled weakly at her because as much cognitive dissonance was flitting around my skull at the moment, I had to admit, just being there with her made me feel tons better already. She reached up and slowly started stripping my clothes off me, letting them fall in a tangled pile on the floor, all mixed up with her clothes.
“I love you.” I said it suddenly, unable to stop myself, not even really having thought about it. And I could see the faint surprise in Brittany’s gaze, the way her fingers stilled for a second at the clasp of my belt. But then, she smiled up at me, the expression sweet and open.
“I love you too,” she said quietly. “I always have.”
From there, it seemed that everything sped up, even while at the same time, it slowed down in a curious way. Her lips met mine, her tongue sliding eagerly against my own, her fingers pulling me close as I stepped us back into the shower, the spray cascading over both of us.
Killing Harry had left a strange hole in my soul, as I realized how easy it was to just kill someone like that. But maybe I wasn’t doomed to emptiness for the rest of my life. Already, I could feel that hole filling up with some other emotion. A reminder that no matter how fleeting life might be, there were things in life that could be worth living for.
Brittany had always understood me, and maybe she knew exactly what I needed right now. It was still such a relief to know that she was all right and that we were okay. That maybe, just maybe, now that all of this craziness was over, we could build a life together.
Because for everything that had happened in our past, it seemed like maybe we had finally overcome it. I had let her down once before, but I hadn’t let her down again. And she seemed to have finally forgiven me.
I kissed her wildly, tasting the spray of the shower in every wet kiss as my fingers slid down along her beautiful curves.
Chapter 24
Brittany
I knew, even before he told me, that Victor had been the one to kill Harry. Somehow, I had expected that Logan would be the one doing the dirty work. But it had really been Victor who’d come to my rescue. It was something he hadn’t done before, back when the feds had been investigating my role in hacking into the national security system. But now, I had to wonder if the only reason he hadn’t helped me out of that mess before was simply that he couldn’t help me.
This time, he had been there for me. He had stepped up. And it warmed me to think that he was willing to do that for me all to make sure that I was safe. Maybe I should have been afraid of him. Maybe I should have thought that he was a monster.
But it was like I had told him: I had known Victor for a long time, and I knew he wasn’t a cold-blooded killer or a monster or any other horrible thing. He was just Victor. And he had always looked out for me. I could only feel relieved at the fact that this was all over, that I was never going to have to worry about Harry again.
Of course, with one thing over, another thing was just beginning.
I led Victor up to the shower and stripped slowly out of my clothes, giving him plenty of time to stop me. I couldn’t tell exactly what was going through his head at the moment, even though I could guess at a lot of it. I didn’t know exactly where he and I stood. I knew there was a lot of stuff that we were going to need to talk about.
But all of that seemed so trivial right now. I couldn’t get over the fact that he was alive, that I was alive, that we were safe now. Even me, even though I had found myself on the wrong side, even though I knew all along that I shouldn’t be working for Harry, I was safe. Representative McCree said he would make sure of it.
We were safe. And as Victor leaned his forehead against mine, I could tell that he was thinking along the same lines as me.
“I love you,” he said, and I could only stare at him in surprise for a long moment. To be honest, it wasn’t that much of a shock; it was something I felt I had known for a long time. But at the same time, I was surprised to hear him say it. Especially in that hopeful, nervous way he did.
“I love you too,” I said immediately, hoping he could hear the raw honesty in my voice. It was what had always made it so hard to lose him. It was what had made me so worried to let him back into my life again. I knew that I had loved him, for a long time now, first as a friend and then as something more. If I had to lose him again, it would kill me.
But maybe I didn’t have to lose him again.
Our lips met in a heated kiss, and we stepped beneath the hot spray of the shower. The water cascaded over us, slickening everything. I scraped my fingernails lightly down his back, feeling him step even closer to me until there was no space between us for even the water to make it through.
He kissed me until I was breathless, until the air around us sizzled with the strength of our desire. I could barely see him for all the steam in the shower, but I didn’t need to see him anyway. I kept my body close to his, letting him slide a leg between mine, nudging my feet apart and stroking at my most sensitive spots.
He slid his lips down the long column of my throat, the wetness of his tongue lost in the dripping water falling all around us. Between that and the fire between my legs, though, I was sure that it was only a matter of time before I combusted.
He stabbed his fingers up inside of me, twisting them and thrusting them in perfect rhythm, until I couldn’t help moaning, my head falling back heavily against the wall of the shower. But suddenly, Victor paused, pulling back to look at me. He slowly reached around me to shut off the water.
“Come on,” he said, a husky note to his voice I had never heard before. He twined his wet fingers with mine, tugging me out of the shower. He barely paused to dry both of us off, and then he scooped me into his arms and brought me to his bedroom. “I want to do this right,” he confided in a whisper.
I would have giggled at something like that once. I had never known Victor to be a romantic. But looking at him then, that serious gaze on his face, giggling was far from my mind. I swallowed and nodded slowly at him. He proceeded to take me apart. Fingers, tongue, he used it all.
I whimpered as he finally thrust his hard cock into me, burying it deep in my folds. He kissed me gently as he began to move against me, his prick sliding slowly in and out of my wet core, making something in my belly curl up tightly with heat. He stared down at me, and I could see the love in his gaze, could feel it in the way he held on to my hand, in the way he slowly thrust into me.
The air was heavy with promise. Whatever I needed protection from, I knew Victor would be there. And in so many other ways, I would be there for him. We needed each other. There was no denying that.
This was more than something physical. This was more than just fooling around. It was bigger than the projects we used to work on together. This was us. This was the future.
He gave a double pump of his hips, hitting that spot inside of me two times in rapid succession, and I couldn’t help but gasp out his name, feeling that spiral of heat explode with the brilliance of a firework. I twisted my fingers in the sheets, losing myself in the strength of passionate love.
Victor held me close as I came again and again, his hips stilling against mine as I brought him to the brink as well. In that one beautiful moment, I knew there was nothing that could ever keep me away from him. We were meant to be together, and we always had been.
We fell into the sheets, a tangle of arms and legs. Victor wrapped his arm around my shoulders, his fingers tracing my tattoos. I slowly, groggily, opened my eyes again, smiling softly up at him. He grinned right back. We didn’t say anything; there was no need to. We both knew what the other was feeling; we felt the same.
Perfectly content. Absolutely, perfectly content.
But if we were going to keep this going, there were going to need to be some changes.
I rolled toward Victor, putting my head on his chest, my fingers trailing lightly across his chest, watching the way his skin prickled with goosebumps before smoothing out again. “You know,” I said conversationally, “the good thing about Harry was that he paid me well.”
Victor’s arms tightened around me for a moment. “I don’t want to talk about that bastard right now,” he said, and I winced.
“I know you don’t,” I mumbled, feeling chastised. But Victor apologized for his tone with a gentle kiss. “I was just thinking that, you know, we have enough money to stop what we’ve been doing. No more hacking or anything else.”
Victor was silent for a long moment. He rolled away from me, staring up at the ceiling, one arm tossed carelessly over his head while the other one stayed looped around my shoulders. “I want you to stop what you’ve been doing,” he finally said. “It’s one thing to build firewalls to protect people, but I don’t want you getting involved with the wrong crowd ever again. And I don’t know how to keep you safe from all of that without just telling you to stop it.”
“That’s fair,” I said slowly. And to be honest, it was a promise I didn’t mind making to him. Even if I had needed the money, it would have taken some serious guts for me to go back to my normal work routine, after everything with Harry.
But Victor wasn’t finished. “I can’t just leave the MC,” he said.
“Of course not,” I said, lifting my head so I could look at him. Victor looked surprised. I shrugged one shoulder. “They were really worried about you,” I told him quietly. “When you went after Harry. I could see how much like a family you guys were. I could never drag you away from that.”
“I can’t ask you to give up everything just to be with me, especially when I’m not giving up the MC,” Victor said, sounding worried.
I shook my head. “You’re not asking. I’m offering.” I paused. “The only thing I want is a life with you, Vic. And if it means I have to give up hacking to do that, then good riddance.”
Victor slowly smiled at me. I leaned in for another kiss.
Epilogue – Brittany – (6 months later)
I still could hardly believe that things had moved so quickly for Lacey, but then again, I knew she was motivated and that she wanted to make a change in her life. Especially after everything I had gotten her into. And besides, she’d been busy over the past six months, so much so that I had barely even seen her. It was all paying off for her now, though.
“I can’t believe you managed to get her this place,” I said, shaking my head at Victor as we got off his motorcycle. He had pulled some strings with some of the guys the MC did business with and gotten Lacey an incredible deal on a downtown building that had been empty for months.
Now, in the bottom floor, behind all the glass windows, I could see chrome and mirrors and tons and tons of makeup palettes, among other things. Lacey was ready to open up shop. Her own shop. And I couldn’t have been prouder of her.
She had graduated from her beauty school after barely any time at all, getting a certificate for being top of the class. And then she had gone on to work in one of the local shops. But everyone knew that she really wanted to have her own place, and anyway, the shop she was working at specialized more in hair rather than makeup. Greenboro didn’t have its own beauty salon, not yet.
But now it would.
I headed inside, still marveling at all the changes to the place. I gave Lacey a huge hug when I saw her. “I still can’t believe this all came together so quickly!” I said. I could tell there were one or two things left to do, things that Lacey was going to spend the entire day fussing over. But overall, the place looked ready for its grand opening the next morning.
Lacey laughed. “Well, you should!” she said. “You were the one who stayed up all night helping me paint the walls. And then you helped me put together all those stands. And the chairs.”
“I still hope that we put them together right,” I whispered. “It’s going to be really embarrassing when someone sits on one of them later, and the whole thing gives out.”
Lacey put her hands over her ears. “Don’t,” she said. “You don’t know how many nightmares I’ve had over things like that this week.”
“Better that than the alternative,” I said, and Lacey nodded. I gave her another quick hug, a silent apology again for getting her kidnapped. Even if I had never meant to get her involved in my other line of work, that was the way things had ended up, and I was probably always going to feel guilty about it.
Fortunately, Lacey had forgiven me. And fortunately, I felt confident that nothing like that was ever going to happen again. I was with Victor now, and he would make sure of it. Besides, he took care of me; I didn’t have to worry about that risky work anymore.
Lacey looked around the place and sighed. “You know, I’m so excited to open this up, but I’m also so nervous about it.”
“Come on, you do makeup better than anyone I’ve ever seen,” I scoffed. “What do you have to be afraid of?”
“It’s not the makeup side of things that worries me,” Lacey admitted. “It just feels like no matter how many of those business classes and seminars I take, I still don’t feel prepared for that side of things. I’ve never been a numbers girl.”
I raised an eyebrow at her. “Do you realize who you’re talking to?” I asked. “I’ve always been a numbers girl.”
“I know,” Lacey said, a grin flitting across her face. “And I was thinking that now that I’m going into business, I might need a good co-owner. Someone to handle the books and make sure I pay back this money I owe my best friend.”
I laughed. “Yes,” I told her immediately. I had always imagined coming to work for her one day. It seemed like that was finally a reality. Not that I needed the money or the job, but it had always been fun working with my best friend. And what’s more, if I were co-owner, there would be no one to harass me about being on time for my shifts.
Well, no one except for Lacey, that was. But she was just as likely to clock me in for the extra time as she was to chastise me. We would work well together. I was already excited.
“You two are going to do great,” Victor said. He leaned in closer. “And I promise you that your business will have the full backing, and most importantly protection, of the Outcasts MC.”
“Thanks,” Lacey said gratefully to Victor. “I was hoping we could work something out with you guys.”
I looked over at Victor. “If today’s my last day with no work, we need to spend our time wisely,” I said.
“Eww, gross, I don’t want to hear,” Lacey said, immediately heading away from us.
I laughed and grabbed her hand so that I could pull her into one final hug. “I was just going to suggest that we get ice cream and maybe cuddle on the couch watching bad movies later,” I told Lacey.
“Sure,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Either way, I want to see you here bright and early tomorrow morning for the opening at nine. Don’t be late!”
“For this? Never,” I promised her, already planning that I was going to need to walk out the door by half past eight the next morning. Victor would help me out, though.
Or he would make it so that I was so late that I never made it for the opening. Hopefully, it would be the former. Lacey would never forgive me if I missed such an important event in her life, and I would never forgive myself.
Victor and I left the shop and headed down the block to our favorite place. I got a milkshake; he got ice cream. I looked around as we sat there and sighed happily. “Some things never change.”
Victor raised an eyebrow at me. “You say that like it’s a bad thing,” he said.
I shook my head. “It’s not that. I’m just thinking about all the things that are going to be changing. All the things that have changed.”
Victor caught my hand, stroking my knuckles with his thumb. “I’m pretty happy with the changes, lately,” he said softly.
