12. Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

Lottie stops fighting against me, either because she’s giving in or she’s grown tired. Either way, she’s still in my arms and if that makes me a dick, I don’t give a fuck.

“Is this about what Kitty said?”

“Yes, and no. It’s everything, Creed. You have a bazillion condoms in your nightstand. You’re apparently obsessed with a woman that’s married with a child who looks oddly similar to me but prettier. Is that your kid? I don’t know anything about you. I mean, you belong to an outlaw club who has the means to show up and dispose of a body in broad daylight. Like, who even are you?”

“Seems we need to set some shit straight.” I loosen my hold on her, but she doesn’t pull away. I take it as a good sign to keep talking. “The condoms are there if I need them. I practice safe sex. I like to fuck. I’m not ashamed of it. The other guys around here love pussy, too. It’s not a bad thing to have plenty of protection for anyone who needs it. The guys know they can always count on me having a stash in my room, so if they need it, they can come grab whatever they need.”

“Okay. That’s smart.”

“Damn right it is. You wouldn’t believe the bitches trying to pin a kid on a brother because they’ll do anything to be an ol’ lady. And yeah, Ember is gorgeous. We had a fling, and that’s all it was. I’m friend with her and her man. The kid is his. I check in sometimes on how they are doing and give him shit about if he’s not treating her right that I’ll step in, but beautiful.” She freezes up and I look at my laptop lying on the opposite side of the bed. “You don’t like me calling you that because you saw I said it to Ember. It’s just a term of endearment, same as calling someone honey or babe.”

Lottie scowls up at me and wiggles out of my arms.

“Okay. I get that means something to you, but you’re the only woman I call hellcat. But if that other shit bothers you, I’ll make a conscious effort to stop doing it. If it means something to you, then it’s important to me that I respect that boundary.” Her expression softens, so I keep going. “You know who I am.” I press her palm to my chest over my heart. “You know me the same as I know you. But you’re right that there are things you don’t know about me and if this is going to work, you’ve got to know those parts too and learn to accept them. I used to have trouble controlling my temper and, as you know, I’d fight to get that aggression out. I take jobs that involve me doing stuff that I know you might hate me for, but I’m good at it. I make damn good money. Enough that if you’re with me, you won’t have to lift a finger if you don’t want to, but being with me comes with a lot of responsibilities and you being okay with there being some shit I can’t share.”

“I need a minute,” she tells me, and I give her that space even though we really don’t have the time for it. There are things we found out about Cade that she needs to be aware of. Her pretty blue eyes meet mine. “I understand a lot of what you’re saying. It’s a lot to take stock of.”

“Yeah. I’m sure you’ve got more questions and I’ll answer them, but there is something else we need to discuss.”

“Okay.” She sits up straighter, appearing calmer.

“This Cade pussy. What did he tell you his job was?”

“A delivery driver for fast food and sometimes he’d do taxi type stuff.”

“He ever tell you he was dealing drugs for the Red Scorpions?”

“Say what?”

“He’s a drug mule, and he stole from them. Hid a flash drive in the heater vent of your bathroom wall that had evidence against the gang because they murdered his friend because he let him take the fall. He used you like he did his buddy and put your life in danger. I’ll tell you what the pissed off side of me wants to do. If it was up to me, I’d hand him and the drive over. Let them figure their own shit out as long as they never breathe your direction again. Option two, the flash drive gets destroyed and I give my assurance to Red that he’s got nothing to worry about and if they catch Cade, that’s on him. Option three, I go to war with these fuckers and take them all out. Cade included.”

“Won’t they be mad about the dead guy?”

“It’s a price we all pay in the underground world. They know it. I know it. You’ve gotta learn to live with it. Can’t save everyone, baby. But I can damn sure do whatever it takes to make sure you’re covered.”

“If you give Cade to them, they will kill him.”

“Normally I’d give a fuck, but he lost that chance the minute he hid that shit in your apartment and made you their target.”

“We don’t know they were going to kill me.”

“They left a hitman calling card under your pillow. I know what that shit means because it’s what I do, Lottie. I kill pieces of shit for a living.”

“You what?” All color drains from her face as she stares at me.

“You heard what I said. You don’t have to agree with what I do, but I need you to understand the men I kill aren’t good people.”

“I. I don’t even know what to say right now. I feel sick.”

I move in to comfort her, and she flinches. “I can’t touch you now? Are you scared of me?”

“I don’t know, Creed. You just told me you murder people for money. You play God.” She shifts her shoulders and makes a face like I disgust her. Maybe I do, but I can’t change who I am.

“I think I like it better when you call me Seth.”

Tears pool in her eyes.

“Hey, look at me.” I twist her face toward me. “I’m still the same man. The one you grew up with. The one you first gave yourself to. The one you’ve always loved.”

Lottie licks her lips.

“Tell me you understand. That you accept me as I am.”

Her mouth opens but no words come out and I’m afraid I’ve lost her when I barely just got her back. But then her lips find mine, frantic and hungry.

“There will never be a version of you I don’t want. That I won’t accept. Only thing I can’t take is losing you again. I’m all in with you. No matter the price.”

“Good.” I hold her down on the bed, claiming her.

Body.

Heart.

Mind.

And soul.

All that she is, is mine for the taking.

“Let’s get one more thing straight.” I hold her gaze. “No one could ever compare to the beauty that is you. I loved you first and I’m going to love you last. Anything that came between then and now doesn’t matter. Inconsequential. ”

“Ditto,” she whispers into my mouth as she delves her tongue between the seam of my lips. “No more talking, honey.” She squeezes my ass over my jeans.

“Most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on.”

“For someone who loves to give orders, you don’t receive them very well.”

“Nope.” I grin and remove her shirt. I yank a lacey cup of her bra down, exposing her nipple so I can swirl my tongue around it till the skin turns taught. “I like this.” I tug the other cup down, repeating motion with the other, getting my first proper look at her skeletal sternum tattoo, that spans beneath her breasts. “Did it hurt?”

“Nothing I couldn’t handle.”

“Fucking sexy, hellcat.”

“You know I don’t remember you being this chatty back in the day.”

“That’s because I was focused on one thing.”

“And what was that?”

“Coming.” She yanks my hair, and I laugh against her stomach as I tongue her navel ring. I didn’t even notice it earlier. I was so determined to be inside her. This time around, I’m going slow. Memorizing and tasting every inch of her skin. Reclaiming what’s mine and only mine.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to get you off multiple times to make up for it.”

“You’ve incurred a debt much higher than a couple of orgasms. ”

“That so?” I press my lips to her stomach. “Maybe it’s the other way around and you’re indebted to me for all the blow jobs you teased me with and never delivered on.”

“Ha. You’re funny.”

“Sometimes.” I trail my tongue further down as I undo the button on her jeans and unzip them. I work the denim down her legs and fling them against the wall, not caring where they land. I start to go down on my woman when she stops me, tipping a finger under my chin and lifting my gaze. “It’s you who needs to submit. Time to repay that debt I owe.” She licks her lips.

My hellcat wants to suck my cock.

Lottie takes charge, and I lay back and let her treat my body like her wonderland as she grips the bottom of my shaft with her fist and wraps that sweet mouth around the head. She knows how to use that tongue. Gliding it up and down the underside back around to the front licking me like her personal lollipop, stretching her lips wide to accommodate my size. The inside of her mouth is like warm velvet. Her movements are calculated and sensual, but I want my hellcat to get hers, too.

“Get up here and sit on my face.”

No hesitation, like a good girl. She does as she’s told, smothering me in her pussy. The way Lottie smells when she’s turned on is addictive. She’s addictive and I’ll never be able to get enough of her sweetness. I grip her hips, holding her where I want her, tongue fucking her hole until she’s coming on my face as she takes my dick to the back of her throat. Her body trembles and shakes as she gags on me, but I don’t let up and neither does she.