Daredevil

I enjoyed a stunned Shain. When would she get it through her head, I meant what I said to her? I planned on getting to know her and hopefully having her fall in love with me. I left her to her thoughts as I drove us to the compound. The last few days had been tough. I hated to leave her alone but I was beyond relieved to see her recovering. The night of her accident, I'd barely kept it together on the ride to the hospital and then in the waiting area as we waited for word on her condition.

I paced the room like a caged animal. Moose and some of his guys were staring at me with disapproval. It wasn't until we'd been there a half hour or more that Moose broke and stomped over to me.

"You need to leave."

"I told you I was coming, and I have no intention of leaving without seeing her."

"Don't you think you've played enough games today?"

"Games? I haven't been playing games."

"What do you call how you acted with her?"

"It was me expressing interest in her, and before you say it was to get her into bed, I warn you. If you do, I'll knock your teeth down your throat. I want more than sex from her."

"Oh really, what else is there for you besides sex?" he asked sarcastically.

"Hopefully a future old lady if I play my cards right."

My answer left him dumbstruck. I went on to explain I wasn't lying and what I hoped would happen. In the end, he let me stay without another word. When we were shown to her room after they admitted her, we shared her bedside until right before she woke up the next morning. I left to stretch my legs and grab a quick cup of coffee. Just my luck she woke up when I was gone.

I wanted to ask her something I'd forgotten until last night when I went back to the compound for the night. She refused to let me stay in her room all night. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"I overheard Fendi and Aurora saying something about why Moose and his club are so overprotective with you. They insinuated it was due to what happened when you were a kid. Care to tell me what they meant?"

Her gaze flickered out the window then down at her hands. My gut tightened. Not desiring to make her uncomfortable I went to tell her she didn't owe me an explanation. She beat me to the punch.

"My dad and his older brother, Moose's dad, were both part of the Regulators. When I was seven the club was having trouble with a rival club. One who desired their clubhouse and the territory they oversaw. Even in those days, the Regulators weren't into anything too terrible, mostly selling weed and protection for hire although never for illegal stuff. In an attempt to force the Regulators to give it all up, they began to retaliate against us by vandalizing our businesses, bikes and such. When those efforts failed, one of them got the bright idea to take it much further."

The pain in her voice told me I wasn't about to hear anything pleasant. I let her pause and gather her thoughts without interrupting her. "One night I was staying the night with Moose and his family. Even though I was much younger, I loved to hang with Moose and my aunt spoiled me. She always wanted a daughter but was never able to have any more kids after Moose. While I was with them, men from the other MC broke into our house and they killed both of my parents. I was made an orphan in one senseless act of violence," she whispered brokenly before I heard her sob.

I whipped the SUV over to the side of the road. We were close to the compound but holding and comforting her was a must. Slipping the vehicle into park, I undid my seatbelt then hers. I gently dragged her across the seat and over the gear shift then onto my lap. I cradled her against my chest as I rubbed her back and murmured words of comfort in her ear while she cried. I hated to see a woman cry. Usually if the tears came out, I went the other way but I refused to do it with her.

"Shh, I'm so fucking sorry, Shain. No wonder Moose and the others are so protective of you."

"They take it to extremes. My uncle was worse if you can believe it. He died when I was sixteen. My aunt couldn't stand to stay with the club without him. She moved to live with her sister in Ohio," she mumbled into my chest. My shirt was soaked, not that I gave a damn.

I kept making soothing sounds. Eventually her tears stopped. When they did, she grew self-conscious. I knew it by the way she stiffened and tried to pull away. I held her tightly. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about. You needed a good cry."

"I'm not a baby. I can control myself. It must be the meds affecting me. Sorry. It won't happen again." She pushed harder. I reluctantly let her put space between us. I helped her back to her side of the SUV where she latched her belt. I did the same then got us back on the road.

Wanting to break the awkward silence I asked her something else I'd been wondering about. "Tell me how you decided you wanted to be a fireman? Or is it politically incorrect to say man and it should be firewoman? I don't want you to kick my ass for saying it wrong," I teased her.

She laughed and shook her head. "I'm fine with either or even firefighter. Again it goes back to the club. When I was eighteen right before I graduated high school there was a fire at the clubhouse when most of us were there. Some idiot prospect thought it would be smart to try and deep fry a turkey inside the building. He caught the kitchen on fire. When the fire department arrived, I saw how they took control and how some not only fought the fire but treated those burned. In a flash I knew I wanted to be able to help people both ways."

"Bet the prospect didn't get patched in, did he?"

She snickered. "He didn't but not because of the fire. Sure, he got a beatdown for it, but he was young and they would have forgiven him. No one got killed and the damage wasn't terrible. He chose to leave after they administered his punishment. He slunk away in the middle of the night never to be seen or heard from again."

"Probably for the best. We're home," I said as I pulled up to the gate and watched it slide open. She had no idea, not yet, but the word home wasn't a slipup. It was me putting out into the universe my intention, to make this her home. I knew without a doubt she was my future old lady. It might take a while to show and convince her, but I would. The first step was to get her never to leave or only for a very short while.