8. Lyla

I'm straightening a picture frame when arms wrap around me from behind.

"Shh," Sage whispers against my neck when I shriek, covering my mouth with his hand as he pulls my body against his firm chest. "You don't want anyone catching us."

I spin in his grasp and wrap my arms around his neck, lifting onto my toes to kiss him. "God forbid someone finds out what you're doing to the president's daughter."

He chuckles, shaking his head as he pulls my mouth to his.

It feels like we haven't stopped kissing for a week. Every second we're alone in a room, our lips are magnets, and I can't stay away from him. The heat of the bonfire lit whatever was already sweltering, and now we're at the mercy of it.

I wish we could just admit what this is—what it's meant to be. Instead, we're still pretending nothing is sparking. Like we aren't about to scorch the ground with every stolen moment.

A countdown ticks in the background. One where I should have left months ago, and Sage is going to be patched in soon. I'm not sure how we can have it all and nothing at the same time. But it sits like a weight over us.

Ever since Sage became a prospect, he's gone more often than he's not. Prospects do most of the work around here, and he's balancing that with the fact that Kane relies on him to do more than most of the club's members. He's sent on every run, and the moment he returns, Kane puts him to work.

Sometimes I wonder if my dad's figured out what we're up to, and if him keeping Sage busy is simply a ploy to keep us apart.

Sage lowers me back down to my feet as his gaze moves over my shoulder. His eyebrows pinch when he takes in the contents of the frame I just hung on the wall.

"Butterflies?"

I glance over my shoulder at the butterflies pinned in perfect rows inside the shadowbox.

"Ellie sent it to me for our apartment."

"Then why is it here?"

"The club needed something nice." I shrug.

He looks from me to the butterflies, and sometimes I wish he wasn't always hiding behind the carefree fa?ade he's perfected because then I could read him. I could see through whatever he's thinking to know if it bothers him that every year, I leave more of a mark here.

Maybe it bothers him that even once I'm gone, he'll never be able to rid me of these walls.

Before I can think too much about it, the front door opens and voices come from around the corner. Sage's hand slips into mine and he tugs me down the hallway.

"What are you doing?" My eyes widen as he drags me toward the staircase.

There aren't many places I'm not allowed to go at the Twisted Kings compound, but the horse stalls in the back of the property and the upstairs of the clubhouse are two of them. The bedrooms are up here, and if Kane caught me with Sage, he'd castrate him.

"We can't."

Sage turns to place his finger over my lips, telling me to be quiet.

Voices follow us, and I know there's no turning back now, so I stay as quiet as I can while I move behind him down the hallway.

It's longer than I expected with doors on each side, and he stops at one at the end, unlocking it.

Pulling me inside, I finally take a breath again.

The room is small, with not much more space than the unmade bed. And it's mostly undecorated. But I graze my fingers over the sketches on his desk, and even if there's only hints of Sage, it immediately feels like him.

"Your room?" I turn to face him, and he nods. "I thought prospects all stayed in the bunkhouse."

"Perks of being the kid of the VP." He shrugs.

I walk over to him, gripping his cut and pulling him close. "The rest of them must really hate you then."

He leans down, smiling before kissing me. "They do."

Sage grabs me by the hips and spins us around until he's sweeping me onto his bed. His body pins me down.

Wrapping my legs around his waist, his hard length turns to steel against my core as he deepens his kiss.

"Sage." I moan into his mouth as he rolls his hips again. "What are we doing?"

We might have been toying with the idea of us for months now, but it's been a tease, a dance we've done. It was easy to avoid the reality of what we could be when it never led anywhere. But ever since we kissed in front of the clubhouse, there's no denying what I've been scared to face.

We're becoming more.

We're stealing time we don't have—moments we shouldn't want. And as Sage's warmth seals me to his mattress, I don't care because I need him.

He grips my jaw and tilts my head back, toying with my lower lip. He might as well be turning us into one as he presses his body to mine and deepens the kiss.

His fingers drift under my T-shirt, and his fingertips brush over my ribs. Skating around my sides, he sends goosebumps skittering over my skin.

"I need you." I moan as his mouth moves down my neck.

Sage pauses to kiss the center of my throat, humming. The gentle vibration sends a warm current directly to my heart. He plants a kiss in the center of my chest, before pulling back to look down at me.

"You sure?"

I glance over at the door. "Is it locked?"

"Yes."

Lifting my hips, I grind against him, and his eyes roll back as his teeth grit. I've always had this ability to break him, and that's what I want right now. For him to show me what I know he's always wanted as much as I have.

"Fuck, Lyla." He grips my hips and watches me roll my core against him again. "You're going to get me killed, you know that?"

"Then die happy." I reach for the button on his pants and pop it open.

And I swear that click makes his patience snap. He grabs my wrists and pins my hands over my head, taking me in a kiss again. But there's no more restraint. He's no gentleman. His cock presses against me, and he's everything I've ever wanted.

When he releases my wrists, we're both frantic, scratching and searching. Stripping each other free of our clothing. It's like we've waited too long and even if I want to savor this, I want him more.

Sage peels off my last pieces of clothing, stripping me and laying me out on his sheets. They smell like his cologne and leather, and I could live with that smell wrapped around me forever. Relaxing on my back, I'm completely bare for him, and even if I'm never insecure, I hope he's not disappointed.

His dark eyes fix on mine, obsidian with how his pupils are blown wide when his gaze drifts over me. And when he once more meets mine, I rake my nails down his bare, tattooed chest because I've never been more desperate for him than I am when he's offering me his full attention.

"You're beautiful." He dips his face to my breast, using his tongue to toy with one nipple, then the other.

He nips at my flesh and peppers my skin with kisses. Patience he's not always capable of showing like he is now. But in his hands, he's holding me like he cherishes this as much as I do.

"You're fiery." He kisses a path down my center, pausing at my belly button. "You're everything, Lyla."

I grip my fingers into his hair, and he looks up at me. "Then fuck me, Sage."

The growl that vibrates in his chest shakes my core. He kneels between my legs, rubbing his rough palms down my stomach to the inside of my thighs and spreads me wider so he can get a full view of me.

"You sure?"

I reach for the band of his pants and tug at them. "You're the only thing I'm always sure of."

The intensity of his gaze spears me. He helps me when his pants get caught, standing up to strip them off. And as they fall to the ground, his hard cock aims at what it wants.

He's bigger than I realized—and thick. My core clenches at the sight of him, and I'm not sure how I'm going to take him as he climbs over me and presses his bare length through my slickness.

My eyes roll back when he notches himself at my entrance. One hand holds my jaw and the other braces him over me on the bed.

"Look at me, butterfly."

My gaze snaps to his.

"Are you okay?"

"I—" I stutter. "I need to tell you. I've never—" I try to shake my head, but his grip on my jaw stops it.

"I know."

Of course he does. He's the one who's watched over me all these years. The one who's made sure no one has been able to get close. I roll my eyes, but when I do, his grip tightens.

"Don't."

"Don't what?" I face off with those eyes that are the deepest part of the universe.

"Don't start questioning us now." Sage brushes his lips over mine and puts more pressure on me. "I've never either."

My eyes widen at his words, but he doesn't offer much time to process as he pulls back and pushes his hips forward again. Teasing me at the line we're on the verge of crossing. Something that feels a lot like changing fate.

"But you're twenty-one." I point out because there's no way he can be a virgin.

"So?"

"You're a biker."

"Yep."

"You can't be a…" I shake my head, biting the inside of my cheek. "You're not a virgin."

"It's not like I've never done anything," he admits, and I don't want to think about that. "But I've never fucked anyone."

"Why?"

Once more, Sage slides his cock between my legs, and I can't help lifting my hips to intensify the pressure. I need to feel him like I've never needed anything. More than answers, more than freedom. I need him.

"You know why." He kisses me.

And with that, he thrusts his hips forward, taking me deep in one stroke. Pulling out, only to push back in deeper.

He kisses my screams before they get out as he breaks that barrier. A wall crumbling that solidifies something between us.

My heels dig into the backs of his thighs as I try to adjust to the size of him. Filling me with pressure I can hardly stand no matter how careful he is. He moves slowly at first like he's worried he'll hurt me. Taking care of me even like this.

Sage props up on his elbows and is slow to pull back as he watches my face wince. "Are you okay?"

"Yes." I'm choking on my words, but even if it hurts, I need him to have this. "Are you?"

Sage grins, dipping his mouth to mine. "Am I okay?" He drives himself back in and pauses, a growl rumbling up his throat. "Yeah, butterfly. I'm okay." He thrusts in again, a bit harder this time. "I'm too good, and you're too perfect."

My nails rake down his chest as he finds a rhythm. "Is there such thing?"

"With you?" He looks down at me before glancing to where our bodies connect. Blood and excitement streaking his cock. "Never."

He drives his hips forward and claims me. He hits me so deep I'm at a loss for breath—for thought. Sage finds a part of me I never knew existed, and it blooms for him.

Destiny.

I feel it as he climbs over me, and I cling to him. As his tongue slips into my mouth and I melt myself against him. He's the earth, the center. The molten hot core. We're burning up as our bodies meld together.

And while I'm aching at his size and the depth of his thrusts, I wake up inside. My body was made for him. And for the first time, I'm sure of where I belong.

It's terrifying. It's disastrous. I don't want to be the person he'll inevitably make me, but I want this.

He's waited for me, and I've waited for him.

I want us to stay in the good part of us. To feel this completely. The tingle creeping over my skin. The lava churning in my core. I want to sink into this moment and never let the pain breach the surface.

Sage tips my chin back and sinks his teeth into my lower lip. And I give in to this moment. To Sage. To him filling me like I've never been. Stretching me to my limits as his thrusts bury deep. Writing poetry on my soul with every touch and heartbeat.

Savoring like we have all the time in the world. Like all we have to give is this purity. Like we can have this.

He can keep me.

It doesn't matter if it's a dream we'll never be allowed to fulfill. I've always been his. And as he rolls his hips and runs his thumb over my clit, I fall apart, taking him with me.