Chapter 5

The SUV rolled to a stop in front of the clubhouse, and the prospect who was driving hopped out. Marnie was curled into my side but sprang upward and scooted over when the door beside her opened as if she'd been caught making out in the back seat. Which had definitely crossed my mind, but I wasn't gonna risk anyone hearing her sounds of pleasure. And I wasn't sure I'd be able to stop once I had my mouth on her.

I almost growled at the prospect to keep his hands off my woman, but as much as I hated to admit it, my body was weak from the accident. Clenching my jaw, I allowed the little shit to help Marnie out of the SUV while I carefully exited the other side. Slowly, I walked to the front of the vehicle, where she waited for me. Taking her hand, I led her up to the front door and into the clubhouse.

The prospect followed, carrying her shit, and I quietly instructed him to take it to my room.

"Marnie!"

Molly, our VP's old lady, drew my attention as she rushed across the lounge and pulled Marnie in for a hug. As she drew back, she glanced down at the hand I'd refused to let go of and chuckled.

I drew Marnie close and released her, only to drop my arm over her shoulders, barely holding back a wince when it stretched my stiff muscles.

Blade's wife, Elise, walked over to join us, greeting Marnie with a happy, familiar smile. "It's great to see you!" Her eyes shifted to my arm, and her smile turned mischievous. "I take it you'll be staying a while? At least until Ice's house is finished? We can finally have that lunch we are always talking about."

I frowned at Elise, warning her not to take her teasing too far. Marnie and I hadn't gone into depth about how long she'd be staying with me. Or about moving into my place.

Marnie tipped her head back to look up at me. "A house?"

"We'll talk about it later, angel," I murmured before kissing her temple.

Fox, the Iron Rogues prez, walked into the room holding one of his six-week-old twins. He held the door open, and his old lady, Dahlia, followed him, carrying the other baby.

"Hey, Marnie," Dahlia greeted her warmly. She walked up to my angel and gave her a one-armed hug. "I'm glad to see you. I wanted to thank you for calling the clubhouse when you found Ice."

Marnie shrugged, and her cheeks turned pink. "After everything you'd told me about your husband and the Iron Rogues, I figured you guys would want to know first."

I tucked her in a little closer to my side and kissed the top of her head. "You did great, angel."

"Um…who's this little doll?" Marnie queried, changing the subject.

I loved how Marnie blushed when praised, but I was gonna have to get my girl used to taking compliments.

"This is Violet," Dahlia replied with a soft expression as she stared down at her daughter. "Kye is holding her twin, Jett."

"They are absolutely adorable," Marnie gushed.

Dahlia held Violet out a little and offered, "Would you like to hold her?"

"Yes!" Marnie bounced on her toes happily before reaching out to carefully transfer the baby into her arms, forcing me to reluctantly let her go.

My mouth curled up as I observed my angel with a little one cuddled in her embrace. I couldn't wait to see her holding our baby. An image of Marnie round with my baby made my dick harden. If I had my way—and I was fucking determined to get it—she'd be knocked up sooner rather than later.

"Baby," Fox murmured as he came to stand next to his wife. "Need to talk to Ice for a minute, can you take Jett?"

After he'd handed over his son, he looked at me and jerked his head toward the hallway that led to his office.

I jerked my chin up in acknowledgment, then turned to Marnie. "You hungry, angel?"

"Yup," she confirmed with a distracted nod as she stared down at Fox's daughter. "I've only had hospital snacks since the start of my shift today."

"We'll take her to the kitchen for some food," Molly volunteered.

I nodded my thanks, then planted a quick kiss on Marnie's lips, chuckling at her stunned expression. "Be right back," I told her before striding away.

When I walked into Fox's office, Maverick lounged on a sofa in a seating area off to the side of the room.

"Tell me about the situation with the developer," Fox demanded. "Mav and I haven't come up with any club-related issues that would warrant someone sabotaging your bike."

Sitting in the chair in front of his desk, I gave them a rundown on Keith Franks and his bullshit. "Having a hard time seeing that little shit as someone with the balls to fuck with an Iron Rogue. He's also a fucking idiot, though, so maybe he felt safe with his plan since there were no witnesses. My security cameras aren't online yet."

Mav chuckled, and I twisted my head to look his way.

"No witnesses, huh?"

My head cocked to the side, and I answered, "Yeah."

"Take it you didn't clarify that with the woman you showed up with?"

I narrowed my eyes and pierced him with an icy stare. "Your point?"

"You know we don't allow puck or club bunnies here, so I'm assuming you found your woman." Mav grinned widely. "Coulda sworn you said you've never be pussy-whipped like us."

I wanted to deny it, but he wasn't wrong. As much as I'd longed for a family, I never expected to be knocked on my ass by an angel and find myself completely obsessed with her. I'd only known Marnie for a few hours, but I knew I'd do anything to keep her and make her happy.

"Guess I was wrong," I admitted since I had no defense. "I'll be talking with Sheila tomorrow."

She was the old lady of one of our older members, Tank. In the past, we'd ordered our cuts and property vests, only using Sheila's sewing skills in an emergency. But after Mav and Fox fell hard and fast for their women, they'd wanted their mark on them as fast as possible—something I now understood.

Fox had followed the example of Mac, his father-in-law and the president of the Silver Saints MC. They'd been in the same position, with the patches in a rush to get a vest on their women. So Mac had taken to keeping a stash of cuts that had the property embroidery finished and only needed the names added. Which Sheila happily offered to do for us when our prez stocked up.

Mav laughed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Molly texted Sheila as soon as she heard you were bringing a woman here."

I double blinked, confused. "How did she—never mind." The realization hit me, and I rolled my eyes. "You assholes gossip like little old ladies."

Fox cleared his throat, drawing our attention back to him. "Let's get this shit done. Want to get back to my wife and kids." His gaze swept over me, and he grimaced. "Besides, you look like shit, and I know Blade ordered you to rest if he was gonna let you out of the hospital."

"Gossips," I grumbled, annoyed that Blade had told the prez, knowing Fox would demand I do as the doctor said. And I didn't want to admit that I was exhausted and in a fuck ton of pain.

"Back to the accident…"

We spent the next twenty minutes going over everything I knew about Keith and what options we had in dealing with the shady fucker.

"Now you look like death warmed over," Maverick muttered with a frown.

"Flattery will get you nowhere with me, brother," I deadpanned, making both men chuckle.

"Get your ass to bed, Ice," Fox ordered. "Gonna need you when we go after this son of a bitch."

Too tired to argue, I nodded and stood. Then I made my way toward the kitchen, intent on finding my girl and going to bed as I'd been instructed to do.

A couple of other old ladies had joined the party, and the women were all gathered around one of the large tables in the spacious kitchen. A lot of the members lived in the clubhouse, but even the single guys who had places off the compound often showed up for meals. So there was plenty of room to accommodate a good-sized crowd of people.

The girls were giggling, and a smile tugged at my lips when I heard the sweet sound of Marnie's laughter. I liked seeing her so at ease with the other old ladies. She'd mentioned doing Molly's and Dahlia's hair, but I hadn't realized they were also friends. And it seemed she'd met Elise recently and would be taking her on as a client as well.

She would fit right in with the whole group, and I was glad for it…since she would be one of them soon.

"Angel," I murmured as I stopped beside her. "Have you eaten enough?"

"I'm full," she replied with a smile.

Fuck, I wish that was true.I wanted her stuffed full of me. "Let's get you settled, then I need to get some rest."

"Your doctor is being a hard-ass, huh?" Elise teased. She was married to Blade.

"Don't answer that."

I glanced at the back door and saw our club doctor striding toward us, scowling. "If you mention my wife and ass in the same sentence, I'll put you back in the hospital."

Rolling my eyes, I cupped Marnie's elbow. "Ready?"

"Good night, ladies," she chirped, then let me help her up and waved as we walked away.

The second and third floors of the clubhouse were almost all rooms for the members. Some who lived here—all the time or part time—and others set aside for guests.

When we reached the second floor, I walked past the first two doors, which happened to be empty rooms, and stopped in front of my own. Then I fished out a key from my pocket, unlocked the door, and gestured for Marnie to enter ahead of me.

I was never more grateful for my innate neatness because the room was picked up and clean. The space was simple, with a king-sized bed, a long dresser across from it, and a massive flat screen mounted on the wall. The only other furniture was a standing lamp, small chair, and side table in the corner.

"There's a bathroom through that door," I told her, pointing to the right. "And a closet there." I pointed at a door on the left. "There are a few empty drawers in the dresser, or you can hang whatever you want in the closet."

Marnie looked around curiously and cocked an eyebrow when her gaze landed on my face. "You live here?"

"Yeah." My brow furrowed as I scanned the space, wondering what was wrong with it.

"I just…um, there's nothing personal here. It feels like a hotel room."

I chuckled and set her bag on top of the dresser before moseying over to her. "Most of my shit is packed in boxes since I'll be moving into my house soon."

It took a monumental effort not to refer to it as our house.

"Your house…right." She looked a little sad, and I wasn't sure why. I just knew I didn't like it.

"We can talk about that another time, angel. Right now, I need to thank you."

"Thank me?" The genuine confusion in her expression was adorable. She was so sweet and innocent, it probably made me a bastard that I intended to corrupt my pretty little angel. Not that it made a difference. Nothing was gonna stop me from making Marnie mine.

"You stopped to help me when a lot of people would have just driven right by. Then were smart enough to call my brothers instead of the police. And you've stayed by my side since the accident. So I'm incredibly grateful."

I cupped her cheeks and held her head steady while I lowered my mouth to hers. When our lips touched, she gasped, and I took advantage of the opportunity to gently slip my tongue inside her mouth, giving her time to get used to me.

It had only taken me a second to recognize that she didn't have any experience with kissing. And damn, it made me hard as fuck to think that I was going to be the one to teach her.

It also told me that she was most likely a virgin. My cock throbbed, loving the idea of being the first and only dick to sink into her tight pussy.

Tentatively, the tip of her tongue touched mine, and I groaned, turned the fuck on by her desire. Slanting my head, I moved my hands to her neck and used my thumbs to tilt her chin up, giving me better access.

After a few minutes of devouring her delectable mouth, I felt my body reaching the point of no return. It was oh-so tempting to lay her down on the bed and take her cherry, but I was still sore and tired from my accident. She deserved the best for her first time, and I wouldn't be able to give her that tonight.

Besides, it was probably a smart idea to give her a little time to get to know me before we fucked. We were already going to be moving at warp speed in this relationship, and I didn't want to scare her into running.

With a deep groan, I ripped my mouth away and rested my forehead against hers. The only sound in the room was our panting breaths, but I could have sworn I heard our racing heartbeats.

After a minute or two, I felt more in control of my body and managed to step back. "Go get ready for bed, angel," I told her in a gritty voice. My hands went to her shoulders, and I turned her around, then patted her curvy ass before urging her toward the bathroom.

Rather than digging in her bag for her pajamas, I stalked to my dresser and pulled out one of my T-shirts. It would dwarf her small body, but if I couldn't have her in my bed naked, then she was damn well gonna be wearing my clothes.

When she stepped back into the room, I was already in bed, attempting to read. I'd been sucked into the thriller when I first started it, but my thoughts kept straying to my angel tonight, so I'd read the same paragraph five times.

"You wear glasses?" Marnie asked, her cheeks dusting with pink.

"Only for reading. Do they bother you?" I doubted it, if her blush was anything to go by.

"No…um…it's just, I guess I never expected to see someone like you wearing them." She giggled and climbed onto the bed, then pointed at the tattoo that covered one of my arms from shoulder to wrist. "It's just a little funny to see a big, bad, tattooed biker looking a little nerdy."

"Nerdy?" I growled playfully.

She dropped her gaze to the comforter as she pushed it back and slipped under it before yanking the material back up to her waist. "Um…yeah. But you know, in a really sexy way."

I grinned and shook my head as I set my book on the nightstand next to me.

"Come here," I murmured, holding my arm open. She didn't hesitate to scoot over and cuddle into my side. "As hot as it makes me to hear you say you think I'm sexy, we both need our rest."

Sighing, I kept her plastered to my body as I maneuvered us to lie down. I kissed the top of her head, then rested my cheek on her crown while my fingers toyed with her gorgeous hair. "Night, angel."

She made a little humming sound and snuggled closer, making my dick jump in an attempt to get to her. I silently cursed, expecting to be up half the night with blue balls. However, the accident and very long day caught up to me, and it only took a few moments for me to pass out.