20. Skylar

Chapter 20

Skylar

"What are you trying to prove here, Joker?"

"Torin," he corrects.

"Torin," I repeat with a sigh. It's not like I haven't been using his name more than his road name here at the club anyway. It was a silly thing to try.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm merely taking my woman out to dinner."

"I'm not your woman," I huff, as I sit back against the seat.

We're in a corner booth that is made like a half circle. The waitress just came to get our drink order and left water while she went to get it. I didn't even get to order. Torin did it. Sure, he ordered what I normally get, but that's beside the point. I don't know what annoys me more, the fact he knows what I order to drink or the fact he didn't give me the chance to order myself.

He also took control of how we are sitting. Right now, I'm so close to Torin that his body is pressed tightly against mine. I'm not sure you could get anything between us—even if you tried. I attempted to slide on around the booth to get away from him. He refused to let me. His hand clamped down on my thigh, not allowing me to move at all. The message is clear. He's in charge and I'm not sure how I feel about it. It kind of excites and terrifies me all at the same time.

"That's not what you were saying this morning," he practically purrs.

It takes a minute to remember what we were talking about and to be honest, I'm still not positive. I decide changing the subject is the safest thing to do. "Do you think you could back off a little? How am I supposed to eat like this? I can barely move my arm without bumping into you," I complain.

"It's my job to feed you. Although, you could sit on my lap if you think that would give you more room to move."

"No way," I huff. He's obviously completely insane. "I am not sitting on your lap—especially in a busy restaurant."

"Pity. I like having your sweet ass pressing down on my cock."

I was taking a drink of my water that the waitress left for us and choke—mid-swallow. "Torin!"

"I like it when you cry out my name. I like it more when you're naked, but it's still pretty damn good either way."

"How did I not know that your mind was so warped?" I snarl.

Torin wraps his hand around my neck and brings my face in close to his. I gasp, but I don't say anything. His hold is so tight, I'm not sure I could respond anyway. He brings his lips to my ears as I feel his hot breath brush against me. My eyes involuntarily close. It shouldn't turn me on, not with the way he's holding me, but it does. I can feel my panties getting wet. I don't understand why I find what he's doing so exciting. Maybe there's something wrong with me. He's not being gentle at all. His hold is a little painful and yet, even that is something I like.

What the fuck is wrong with me?

"You wanted me, Skylar. You offered me something I wanted but thought I could never claim, so often that I thought I'd go insane. The thing is you made one mistake."

"What—" I squeak out, but he shakes his head no. He's giving me a clear message without words.

"You flirted with that fucker from the Devil's Blaze, and I discovered that even though you deserved better, I could still claim you as mine. If you think I'm going to let you go now, you're stupid." I jerk my head to try and get out of his grip. It's a useless attempt. His tongue slides against the shell of my ear. His teeth nip along the path his tongue leaves behind and I feel goosebumps breakout over my body. I whimper before I can stop myself. "I know you're not stupid, Peaches. You want me as much as I want you. You want what I'm going to give you."

His hand loosens and now instead of trapping me in a firm hold, he's caressing my skin as his lips graze along my jawline. "Torin," I whisper, hating myself because I sound weak with desire. I want him so much right now that it's almost physically painful. I don't understand the affect he has on me. I should be kneeing him in the balls and walking away—yet, that's the last thing I want to do.

"You're safe with me, Skylar. Relax tonight and let me show you how it is meant to be between us. I'm not going to fight it anymore. You have to admit that night outside of the Wolf's Den, we both knew we belonged together. The reaction we had to one another was combustible. Fuck, it still is. You can't even try to deny that."

"How am I supposed to trust this, Torin? Do you have any idea how you've hurt me the last three years? What's to say that I give in and then you just walk away? There's such a thing as self-preservation. You know?"

"You're forgetting that there's a difference now. In the past, I've fought like hell to stay completely away from you."

"Yeah, because I'm too young, blah, blah, fucking blah. Here's a newsflash for you, Torin. The age difference between us is still the same and I'm not yet, twenty-one." He surprises me by laughing. It irritates the hell out of me because I see nothing funny about any of this. I slap his shoulder in response, but he just leans down and kisses me on my forehead. "What the hell is so funny?"

"You sounded like Dragon's old lady, Nicole. She's always giving him what she calls ‘newsflashes'," he mutters, his eyes twinkling in humor.

"I like Nicole," I mutter. I don't add that she's the kind of old lady that I always wanted to be. The other women in the club look up to her and when a twinkie or one of the other club women disrespect her, she doesn't back down. My mom can hold her own, but she's never been one to hang around much at the club and Dad doesn't stick around for parties much either. They much prefer to be at home with us or by themselves. I've always wanted to be a part of the club life and embrace it fully. So, I guess, Nicole has always been a role model for me. It sounds silly. I doubt Dragon ever walked away from her either, so I guess I'm failing.

I'm looking down, avoiding eye contact with Torin, so I'm not prepared when he puts his rough, calloused fingers under my chin and lifts my face. I don't even get the chance to question him because his lips are on mine. I give into his kiss completely. His tongue slides into my mouth, seeking mine out and I swallow down his groan. Torin's hand moves to my hair, tangling into it with a brute force that excites and stimulates me so much that I feel the evidence of it sliding against my inner thighs. Everything fades away. Nothing matters but Torin's hands on my body and his tongue owning my mouth. I lose all rational thought. I'm too filled with hunger to pay attention to anything but the pleasure he's giving me. I think Torin must feel the same. His hand moves in the deep V-neck of my dress as his fingers caress the cup of my bra.

I'm about to beg him to take it off me—to strip me down and take me. Those words never see the light of day when someone loudly clears their throat. I stiffen at once.

"Peaches," Torin growls.

"Are you ready to order?" the waiter asks.

Torin exhales, not bothering to hide that he's annoyed. He looks at me and our gazes lock together. I couldn't look away from him now if I wanted to. And I don't. "Do I look like I'm ready?" he snaps but doesn't look away from me. The pad of his thumb brushes against my cheek and slowly his lips stretch into a small smile. "We'll each have the New York strip—both medium well. Also, two loaded baked potatoes, only, on one of those don't add butter. She prefers sour cream only," he responds, only he doesn't take his eyes away from me. He's ordering for both of us. If it was anyone else, I'd throw a fit. Chad tried to do it once and I refused to eat anything. Heck, Mattie has done it before, and I kicked him in the balls. The only thing on my mind when Torin does it, however, is that he somehow knows exactly how I like my baked potatoes. Knowing that makes me feel warm all over.

"You have one more side," the man replies, while writing on his notepad.

"House salads, no cucumbers on them. She'll take French dressing. I'll take Blue Cheese."

"Got it," the waiter says with a nod, before walking away.

"What?" Torin asks when I keep staring at him.

"You know how I order?"

"You'd be surprised all I do know about you, Peaches. I may have had to be an asshole to you the last few years, but that didn't mean I didn't watch everything you did and wished I could be the man at your side."

"You could have been," I counter, trying to break away from him enough to get some air that isn't swimming in his cologne.

"You're too young and I honestly didn't see any way that your father or the others would have allowed me to claim you."

"So, you were afraid of my family?" I scoff, shaking my head.

"You laugh, but you know how many people are terrified of your family?—"

"So, you're saying Chad was braver than you are? At least that asshole let me know he wanted me."

"That just bought you three spankings, Peaches. Keep it up and we'll see just how prepared you are to have me as your man."

"If you were afraid of my dad before, go ahead and try to spank me. I'll make sure Mattie and Dad know every fucking thing you do to me."

"Going to let you in on a secret, Peaches. My brothers know exactly how I like my women. Once they know I've claimed you, they're going to know exactly what we do in our bedroom. They'll also know how much you enjoy it, because I'm going to make sure you scream so loud while begging me for more, that there will be no way they can question it. The whole fucking club will hear you getting off on my dick. Shit, I'll leave the door open so they can hear it even better."

"When you fantasize, you go all out. What you just described is never going to happen. Sorry, I'm not a twinkie. The whole public sex thing is just not for me."

"Is that why you let me get you off at Swank? Don't bother trying to deny it either, Skylar. You were so fucking wet, if I had been eating out that sweet cunt of yours, I would have drowned."

"You really are an asshole," I huff.

"I am, but I'm yours and you're just going to have to accept that at this point."

"Torin—"

"I'm not going anywhere, Peaches. I've already claimed you in front of Wheeler and the boys. You're fooling yourself if you don't think he's going to give us maybe two days out of respect before he calls your dad or Dragon. The die has already been cast, baby. I told you last night there was no going back. You should have listened."

My head is a mess, and my heart is running away with me. Shit. What if he's right? If Wheeler was to tell my family, they could very well kill Torin. I don't want him to die. Hell, I'm even pretty positive that I need him to breathe. I've been in love with him for three years. I don't see that changing anytime soon. I'm not sure it ever will—even if I do manage to push him away.

What am I going to do?