Chapter Nine

Memphis

Memphis

" J esus," I groan, my eyes locked on Kylie as she dances from table to table, straightening up. The bar closed an hour ago, leaving it deserted. I'm supposed to be doing paperwork, but I can't fucking concentrate on anything but her.

The faint scent of whiskey and cigarette smoke lingers in the air as she rolls her hips in time to the music pouring from the jukebox. The sight of her body moving like that steals my breath, turning my cock to stone. She's so fucking sexy, and she knows it, too. Her emerald eyes dare me to come closer every time I look at her.

All damn night, she's been pushing my buttons, fucking with me because she's mad as hell about living with me. At least, she wants me to think she's mad about it. I know better. She wants me just as much as I want her, but she's afraid to let herself fall, afraid to give herself over to me.

I'm determined to break down her walls.

She shimmies her hips, tossing her long hair over her shoulder, and I break.

Fuck the paperwork. I leave it behind and prowl across the bar, stalking her on silent feet. She's lost in the music, oblivious as I creep closer.

My arm slips around her from behind, anchoring her body to mine. Her curves fit against me like she was made for me.

"Memphis!" she gasps, startled, and stops dancing.

I press my lips to her ear, my hand sliding down her round belly. "Don't stop, Toto," I breathe, slipping my hand beneath the waistband of her pants, seeking the heat of her pussy. "You're going to dance for me while I take you to heaven."

"Memphis," she whispers, hesitation in her voice.

"Do it, Kylie," I growl, sinking my teeth into the side of her throat. "Come all over my fuckin' fingers while you sway those sexy hips to the beat."

She tenses before she surrenders to the music and my touch. We move together, her hips rolling seductively to the rhythm, her breathing heavy.

I'm lost in her, the way she trusts me with her body, the way she pants my name. She's a fucking goddess.

The rhythm of the music pulses in my veins as my hand works between her legs, my fingers sinking into her wet heat. I grind my thumb against her clit, pressing two fingers inside her tight hole to fuck her with them.

"Memphis, oh God, it feels so good."

"You have no idea what I want to do to you, princess," I growl, my lips against her throat, reveling in the taste of her skin.

"Tell me."

"I want to fuck you every way imaginable, Toto. I want to bend you over and claim that tight little asshole as mine. Tie you up and keep you coming on my cock until you pass out." I curl my fingers up to stroke her clit. "Doesn't matter how many times you beg for mercy. Until you're addicted to my cock, I won't have any for you."

The filthy words drive her wild, her body clenching around my fingers as she groans my name.

"No one else will even exist to you, Kylie. I'm all you'll think about, all you'll dream about." I drag my teeth down the tendon in her throat. "You and this little pussy will need me to survive."

"Memphis, please," she whimpers, barely able to keep dancing as she melts against me, sobbing in ecstasy. She loves my filthy mouth, loves the things I say to her…loves what I do to her. She may be innocent, but she was made for me in every way.

I place my lips against her ear, overwhelmed by how much she means to me, by how beautiful she is in this moment. And by how much I need her. "You're fucking beautiful, Kylie," I breathe against her skin. "So damn beautiful when you're lost in me like this."

She shatters apart in my arms, crying out my name as the orgasm rips through her body. "Memphis!" Her voice is ragged, desperate, the sweetest fucking sound I've ever heard.

I hold her tight against me, my fingers still buried deep inside her as she comes undone. I feel every tremor, every clench of her pussy gripping me like she never wants to let go.

Her head falls back against my shoulder, her dark hair spilling across my arm, emerald eyes closed in blissed-out ecstasy.

"Mm, Memphis," she says sweetly.

My chest grows tight, emotions swelling up inside me like a tidal wave.

"Jesus, princess," I whisper, my voice shaking. "Do you have any idea what you're doing to me?" These feelings are foreign, ripped from a place deep inside me that no one else has ever touched. "I wasn't supposed to fall for you, but damn if you gave me a choice in the matter, Kylie. I'm fucking crazy about you."

"Memphis." she gasps, my name shaking on her lips as she spins to face me. Her eyes are wide and vulnerable as tears well up. "You don't mean that."

My heart aches as I hold her gaze, my voice steady, certain. "I do, Toto. My goddamn heart is yours. Has been for days."

She swallows hard, guilt burning deep in her eyes. "But…you don't even know me. There are things…" She hesitates, searching my face. "There are things I haven't told you. Things that might change your mind."

I stare at her for a heartbeat, processing her words. She thinks I don't know that she's hiding shit from me. I chuckle softly, shaking my head.

"I've known since you walked into my bar that you're here for a reason," I say quietly. "Don't know what that reason is, and frankly, I don't fucking care."

"But…"

"But nothing, baby." I tip her chin up, gently forcing her to meet my gaze. "It doesn't change a goddamn thing. You aren't the only one with secrets, Kylie. And whatever yours are, I guarantee they don't compare to mine and the things I've done." I feel it in my bones. Whoever she really is, whatever she's done, whatever drove her here…she's innocent. I know that much. And there's nothing she can tell me that will ever make her half the goddamn monster I am. I'm the one with blood on my hands. Not her.

She stares at me, a mix of regret and fear flickering across her face. "I want to tell you everything. I just…"

I silence her with a tender kiss, tasting her uncertainty and desire. "You don't owe me answers until you're ready to give them, Toto," I promise, my lips brushing against hers. "I can wait." For her, I will wait.

"I just need to know one thing." My voice is firm, but gentle. "Are you in danger, baby?"

"No, of course not." She bites her lip, her gaze flickering across my face. Then, softer, she adds, "Well, just my heart." She exhales a breath. "I don't think it belongs to me anymore, Memphis."

Fuck.

A surge of possessiveness courses through me at her admission. It isn't the words I want—but it's damn close. She's falling for me.

I haul her into my arms, claiming her mouth as if it's the only thing keeping me grounded. The world narrows down to this moment, to the taste of her lips and the feel of her body pressed against mine. Here, now, with her in my arms, nothing else matters.

She moans my name, trying to climb my body.

"Shit, baby," I groan, lifting her off the floor effortlessly and carrying her over to the bar. The thrill of knowing she's mine takes over every part of me, making my goddamn cock throb with need. "You got me so fuckin' worked up, I can't wait."

I plop her down on top of the bar, ready to take her here and now. She gasps in surprise as I yank her shirt off over her head, tossing it aside without a care.

"What are you doing?" she asks breathlessly, her eyes wide and pupils dilated.

"Getting you naked in my bar," I growl, already working on pulling her boots off. "And as soon as I do, I'm eating that perfect cunt right here." My hands make quick work of her boots, flinging them over my shoulder as I smirk at her. "Once you're done soaking my face and this bar, I plan to fuck you on top of it. Any more questions?"

She hesitates for a moment, then whispers with a wicked grin, "Just one." She lifts her hips, allowing me to drag her jeans and panties down her legs. "What's taking you so long?"

Ah, fuck. I knew she was perfect.

Two hours later, we walk out of the bar hand in hand, the cool night air washing over us. She shivers, so I pull her close, wrapping an arm around her waist. The things I just did to her inside that bar…well, Jessup is going to fucking kill me if he ever finds out.

But I'll die happy, that's for damn sure.

I lead her to the truck, boosting her inside before buckling her in. She rolls her eyes at me.

"What'd I tell you about that shit?" I ask, my eyes narrowed on her.

"Yeah, yeah. You can punish me later. My legs are barely functioning right now, Memphis," she mutters around a yawn, making me chuckle.

I press a kiss to her lips, chuckling, and then slam the door before jogging around to the driver's side. I pull out, glancing in the rearview.

A dark van pulls onto the road behind us.

My brows furrow when I spot it. It looks like Venom's van, but he went home hours ago. Why the fuck is he still out here?

"My mom die last year," Kylie says quietly, pulling my attention to her. It's the first real thing she's told me about her life. "Before then, it was just me and her for a long time. I was bullied in school, so I've never really let anyone close. I'm not sure how, Memphis."

"We'll get there, baby." I reach for her hand, kissing her fingers as I issue the promise. She may not realize it, but she's already letting me close. She's already letting me in. "I'm sorry about your mom."

"Me too," she whispers.

We ride in silence for a moment before she speaks again.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"You can ask me anything, Toto."

"Why did you open the bar?"

"Jayson," I whisper quietly, my throat tight. "He always said he wanted to run his own biker bar. He never got the chance so…"

"So you did it for him," she says, understanding in her voice.

"Yeah."

"He'll never see it, but I wanted him to have his dream. Even named the damn thing the Devil's Run, which is the name he picked out back when we were young and dumb and didn't know any goddamn better."

"You really loved him, didn't you?"

"He was the only family I had," I admit softly as we drive. "I grew up in foster care, bouncing from place to place. We met in high school and were thick as thieves. When I fell in with an MC, he followed me." My sigh is heavy with regret. "Shit was copacetic for a while, and then it took a turn. I had nothing to lose, so I turned with it. But Jayson…Jayson had family. His mom found out and kicked his ass out, told him not to come around again until he was done with that kind of life. That should have been enough to screw my head on straight, but it wasn't."

I glance in the rearview again and see the same fucking van following a few car lengths behind us. What the fuck? Anxiety creeps up my spine, but I push it down, focusing on Kylie and the words I need to say.

"We got deeper and deeper into the life. By the time I realized we needed to get the fuck out before we did something we couldn't take back, Jayson had no interest in leaving. He had a girl at the clubhouse and was rising through the ranks. He was there because of me, and I couldn't leave him, so I stayed, too."

Kylie reaches out for me, placing her hand on my arm as if to offer comfort.

"The night he was killed, I was on a drug run. Everyone else was drunk and passed out. One of our prospects double-crossed us to a new club in the area. We had no beef with them, but they wanted our territory. The prospect let the motherfuckers in. It was a bloodbath," I whisper.

"I got back in time to find Jayson…" My voice cracks, the memory still raw and painful.

Kylie unlatches her seatbelt, sliding across the bucket seat until she's pressed up against me, holding onto me like a lifeline. "He took his last breath in my arms. I fuckin' lost it, Kylie. What I did…"

"What did you do?"

"I went after the people who killed them," I whisper, the first time I've said the words out loud. "Christ, Kylie. I killed five, six people that night."

"Memphis," she whispers, tears thick in her voice. Her hand finds mine, squeezing it tightly, offering me comfort and understanding.

"I don't regret it, baby. Never have, and doubt I ever will. The only goddamn thing I regret is not getting Jayson the fuck out of there when I had the chance. He's dead because I introduced him to that kind of life." I pause, swallowing hard. "People back home still think I'm the one who betrayed the MC. I let them think it. It doesn't fucking matter. At the end of the day, I am the one who got him killed. That guilt does belong to me."

I check the rearview mirror again and the sight of the van still tailing us sends a shiver down my spine.

"It wasn't your fault, Memphis," Kylie says softly, reaching out to touch my face, distracting me from the van behind us. I glance down at her, finding tear-streaked cheeks and those beautiful emerald eyes full of empathy.

Christ, she's so fucking sweet.

"I know you don't believe that, but I do." Her voice is a whisper, shaking with sincerity.

"Toto," I murmur, my heart aching in ways I can't put into words. Telling her everything hurt, but it healed too. Or maybe it's the way she's looking at me that's healing me. I don't fucking know.

All I know for sure is that, for the first time, I don't feel like a goddamn monster for what I did. I feel…like someone who might be worthy of the angel staring up at him with stars in her eyes.

"You're fuckin' perfect, Toto. Don't ever change."

She smiles at me, the warmth of it lighting up the entire goddamn night.

As we pull into my neighborhood, I check the rearview mirror one more time, relieved to see that the van has disappeared.

Kylie notices my preoccupation.

"Is everything okay? You keep looking behind us like you expect to find something back there," she asks, turning to peer out.

"Everything is fine," I lie, forcing a smile. I'm not sure it is, though. Something is off. That van was definitely following us. But I'm not telling her that. Not until I know what the fuck is going on. Why the fuck would Venom be following us?

I intend to find out.

What we're building here is worth fighting for. It's worth every goddamn thing. And if the truth about who I am and what I've done didn't tear it apart, I'll be damned if I let anything else destroy it.

We ride in silence the rest of the way to the house, her body pressed up against my side. The garage door opens with a slow groan, and I pull in beside my bike, killing the engine.

As soon as the truck falls silent, she crawls into my lap, wrapping her arms around my neck. I can't help but pull her closer. Her lips come down on mine, her kiss tinged with tears.

"Thank you," she whispers, her breath warm against my face. "For trusting me."

I brush my fingers beneath her eyes, drying her tears. "You own me, Kylie. I have no secrets from you." In this moment, it's true. My past, my sins…they're all laid bare before her.

She meets my gaze, hers somber. "It doesn't change anything for me, Memphis. Your past, the things you did…they don't change the way I feel about you or the man you are now."

"Fuck," I groan, pressing my forehead to hers as a current of emotion sweeps through me. Knowing that she accepts me despite everything I've done is overwhelming.

"I just thought you should know that."

"Christ, Toto. I'd die for you and not regret it," I groan, the simplest, most profound truth I've ever spoken. "That's how completely you have me. That's how wild I am for you. Maybe it's fuckin' cheesy to say it. I don't know. But it's true."

Killing is easy. I've already done that. But sacrificing my life for hers? I wouldn't even hesitate.

"Same," she whispers, making me smile.

"Nah, baby. You aren't allowed to die for me. You're going to live." I plunge my hand into her hair, brushing my lips across hers. "For me and my cock."

"Yeah," she breathes against my lips as the pain of the past recedes, no match for the feel of her in my arms and the promise of a future with her.