Chapter Seven

Rhea

"Are you sure about this?"

I force my eyes away from the window and the passing scenery to my brother's fiancé. She's watching with me with a worried look in her eyes which confuses me a bit. Sky and I only met yesterday, but she watches like she's known me all my life.

"I didn't think you'd show up," I say, ignoring her previous question.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"I . . . I mean, we've only known each other for a day, and you just got engaged," I say, my eyes dropping to the large diamond ring on her finger. "I probably disrupted your celebration with my brother."

"Your brother has me for the rest of his life; a few hours apart will not kill him," she says, offering me a smile I can't return. "Besides, I volunteered to come. I figured there are things you don't want your brother to know."

She's right.

When I woke up this morning, my first instinct was to run away from the hotel and get as far from Knight as possible. The only problem was I had nothing. The clothes I had worn the night before were still soaked from the rain in a heap on the hotel room floor. I had no money, and I'd left my phone back home.

So, I made do with what was available. I grabbed Knight's phone and called Priest, telling him I had a project waiting for me back at school and that he should send someone to deliver my things to the hotel. My brother wasn't pleased to learn that I was at a hotel with his best friend after being caught in a storm after an impromptu ride, but I assured him we'd spent the night in different rooms. I guess that was enough to appease him, and he promised to send my things over. Though he couldn't quite hide the hurt in his voice that I wouldn't be coming back to say goodbye.

I never expected his fiancé to show up at the hotel. Or that she'd catch sight of a sleeping Knight, his naked back on display with the sheets bunched at his feet, when she dropped off my bags.

"Promise me you won't tell Priest about what you saw," I whisper, running my eyes over her face. "I hate to ask you to lie to him, but I don't want him finding out what happened between me and his best friend."

Sky places a hand on my leg and nods. "It's not my place to tell him your business, Rhea," she assures me. "I don't know what exactly happened between you and Knight, but if I am here if you want to talk about it."

I nod, my eyes shifting back to the window. I watch as familiar landmarks pass by with each mile we cross toward the airport. The world blurs into the background as my eyes fill up, I force the tears back.

No, I refuse to cry.

A year ago, I was in this very position, bawling my eyes out on the way to the airport just because my crush hadn't shared my feelings, but this . . . what I feel for Knight is more than just a crush.

"Have you heard the story about the heiress of Mount Bonnell?" I ask, staring unseeingly out the window.

"You mean the legend of the tragic girl who jumped off a cliff after the death of her lover?"

I chuckle at her words, but this time tears spill down my cheeks. "I've lived in Austin all my life, and I'd never heard of the story until last night. You've been in Austin for a couple of weeks and already know it?"

"I come from a small town, Rhea. I was curious to learn everything about the city and its history and landmarks. Why did you bring it up?"

"I feel like I am slowly becoming that girl," I say, turning to face Sky. "Every moment I spend close to Knight, I find myself sucked deeper and deeper into his world. Around him, nothing matters. Not the past, not the future. Nothing matters but him."

"Perhaps he feels the same way."

I shake my head. "He rejected me a year ago when I confessed my love to him."

"People change, Rhea, and so do feelings and circumstances."

"You could be right," I whisper. "But what if you are wrong? What if nothing has changed? I mean, can we even be together if we want to be? He's Priest's best friend and the vice president of Steel Order. No way would Knight ever choose me over all of that. I don't think I could live through another rejection. Maybe I wouldn't jump off a mountain, but I would feel hollow and broken inside all the same."

Sky risks a glance at me as she maneuvers her small SUV—a gift from my brother—through traffic. "Your brother might happen to be the president of the Steel Order club and one of the most feared men in Austin, but he's softer than a teddy bear for the people he loves, and he adores you. I was nervous to meet you because I know how important you are to him. You're his pride and joy, you have to know he only ever wants you to be happy and safe. I'm sure he'd come around to the idea of you and Knight together. And if he gives you any grief, he can answer to me." Sky finishes with a saucy shake of her head, and I bite back a laugh.

Priest promised me that my future sister-in-law is a harmless little thing, but hearing her threaten to take my brother to task on my behalf makes me proud for some reason. All too soon, we're pulling up at the airport, and I find myself not wanting to say goodbye to her.

I like her, I realize.

Truth is, I liked Sky from the moment I met her. Anyone who makes my brother happy is a good person in my books, but I feel closer to her now.

"Let's be friends," I tell her, already predicting we're going to be the best of friends. We'll need to stick together when it comes to handling my brother after all.

"Yes! I need more friends. The wives and girlfriends of the other members are great, but they're still a little hesitant with me being Priest's girl and all. I need a friend willing to get into a little trouble with me," she says mischievously, and I nod even though I can tell she's joking. I lean in and wrap my arms around her. "Visit soon," she says into my shoulder. "I'll need help planning the wedding."

My heart skips at her words, the thought of coming back to Austin already filling me with anxiety, but I can't disappear for another year just because I am a coward. It's selfish to rob my family of my time just because I am terrified to face one man.

"Okay," I whisper. "Just call me anytime, and I'll hurry back." I can't quite tell if I mean the words, though.

***

I dream of him.

I always dream of him, but this time it's different. Instead of rolling in the sheets with him as I've imagined for the past year, we're back on the mountain. Knight is watching me as I approach the mountain cliff, and my eyes are on his as I turn and fall. I expect him to reach out and grab my hand before I plummet to my death, but he doesn't move a muscle. He just watches me as I fall and fall and fall . . .

I wake up with a start, sweating and shivering as my eyes frantically taken in my surroundings to make sense of where I am. It takes me a second to realize I am back at my apartment. My luggage sits unopened beside the couch I am lying on, and I notice that there is light outside the window.

I break into a yawn as I reach for my phone and tap the screen to check the time. It's a few minutes past seven, and soon, the sun will be setting. There are a few texts from Priest and Sky inquiring about my flight, but nothing from Knight.

What did you expect? You left the man in a hotel room without so much as a goodbye.

The mocking voice at the back of my head is brutal, but I ignore it, quickly texting my brother and his fiancé, informing them of my safe arrival, before tossing the phone on the couch and sitting up. I sweep a hand over my hair as I stare unseeingly at my empty apartment, unnerved for the first time by how quiet it is. A wave of loneliness swamps me, and I am tempted to curl back up on the couch.

Priest got me this apartment when I told him I didn't want to live in a dorm during my second semester, and for the first time since moving in, I consider getting a roommate.

Maybe I could even try to date someone.

The thought alone is enough to send my stomach churning, and I realize there is no going back. After everything that's happened between Knight and me, he's it for me.

People change, Rhea, and so do feelings and circumstances. Sky's words force their way back into my mind, and I question if perhaps I should have stayed and confessed my unchanged feelings to Knight. We had, after all, shared all my firsts.

That has to mean something, right?

Except these things mean so little to the people around me. Most of my college friends fall in and out of love monthly, and sex for them is nothing more than physical release. Heck, I know many of the men in the motorcycle club do this too. I don't often see them settling down with any of the women they're involved with.

What makes you so special?whispers a voice at the back of my head.

Maybe he doesn't feel the same, but Knight was special to me, and always will be.

Christ, I miss him so much. I miss looking at his thick, broad body, heavily muscled and entirely masculine. My big, beautiful biker with the body of a fighter and the face of a rockstar. And a very skilled tongue—

"Don't do it, Rhea," I scold, but I am already sliding a hand across my tits and stroking. My back arches from the pleasure that shoots up my spine, but it's nothing close to how it feels when Knight does it.

Knight . . .

I close my eyes and bite my lips with a moan, flexing my thighs together as images of a naked Knight surface in my head.

I'm trying to forget him.

I shouldn't . . .

And yet, I find myself trailing the free hand down my body and slipping it under my dress. I grab the waistband of my panties and tug them down my thighs, but in my head, I see Knight rip them away before proceeding to tear the dress from my body and tossing it over his strong shoulders.

I can practically feel his warm breath brush my skin as he kisses a trail up my inner thigh, each inch bringing him closer and closer to my pulsing sex, and . . . fuck.

"Open up for me, sweetheart, let me see your tight little pussy," the Knight in my head says with a grunt, and I moan loudly, spreading my legs wider for him. It's not enough, and he wrenches my knees wider, leaving me vulnerable and exposed, but I don't care.

I'll do anything for him.

Anything.

He has a possessive look in his eyes as he stares down at my sex, licking his lips and snarling like he's been looking forward to this moment all his life, and I am ready to let him have me. To take me in any way he wants.

I cry out when he leans down and plants a long, wet kiss over my parted flesh, teasing my clit with his thick tongue and rubbing the tight nub in circles until I am begging for more but . . . he doesn't give it to me.

He stays buried between my legs, lapping at my arousal until I am bucking off the couch and crying out his name, begging him to give me what I need. To climb up my body and drive his thick shaft into my sex like he did last night.

"Oh, Knight!" I cry out, my breathing growing harsher as pleasure shoots up my body. His is the only face behind my eyes and the only voice in my head. His touch is the only one I feel caress my heated skin, and it doesn't take long before he sends me flying.

I sob out as an orgasm tears through me with such violence, I wince at the emptiness I feel as my sex convulses and my walls squeeze around nothing, begging for the man I left behind. I turn my head and scream into the throw pillow in frustration, fighting back the tears that threaten to spill.

That asshole!

I can't believe he ruined this for me too.

Will I always feel this empty?

I kick my feet in anger, punching my fists into the throw pillow with a frustrated cry, then quickly lifting my head when I hear a sound. I stop and listen, assuming it's my neighbor probably moving something around until it comes again.

A knock on my door.

My brows draw in confusion as I stare at the door, confused who'd show up at my apartment this late, but I figure it's a neighbor coming to borrow something or a delivery guy who's got the wrong unit. Shit, I know I look like a wreck with my tear-stained cheeks and mussed hair, not to mention my dress, which is a wrinkled mess around my hips.

I manage to straighten my dress and brush my fingers over my cheeks and through my hair as I walk to the door, but there is little more I can do.

I don't bother peeking through the keyhole as I quickly open the door, coming face first with a familiar wall of muscles when the person steps forward, and before I can react to the man pushing his way into my apartment, firm lips take my mouth in a wild, hungry kiss.

I stand frozen for a full solid second, trying to make sense of what is happening, but soon, my need takes over, and I am kissing him back. Wrapping my arms around him and letting him carry me deeper into my apartment. My sex pulses with need as if I didn't orgasm a few minutes ago, but I need more.

I need him.

And this time, I intend to keep him.