Chapter Twenty-Two

BISHOP

The night air was warm and calm, disturbed only by the faint hum of crickets in the distance. The porch light above the doorway cast a soft glow out onto the garden as I leaned back into the old sofa, taking a long drag from my cigar and making the tip glow brightly in the darkness.

I held it for a few seconds, feeling my body instantly relax before exhaling a plume of cigar smoke into the night air.

It was my place to find a little peace every now and then.

Away from my duties at the club as a president, brother, mentor, father, and protector.

It wasn't often I did anything that wasn't in the club's or my family's best interest.

That night was different.

I'd given in.

And I didn't regret a single moment of the past few hours exploring Shay's body, committing it to memory and declaring it mine.

Calli would be shocked, maybe even a little mad, but I'd prove to her that this was more than just a hookup. This wasn't just Shay and I fucking around. Having Shay around had filled a gaping hole I wasn't even aware had opened. It wasn't just the cooking, the cleaning, or the way she had begun to mother my men.

It was the way she challenged me.

It was the way she cared so fucking fiercely.

It was her fight—one that scared the shit out of me and had me on my damn toes.

But maybe that was it.

Shay forced me out of a comfort zone I'd fallen into, and I was beginning to see what Calli was talking about when she sat me down before she left and told me she wanted me to find someone, to share parts of myself with someone, and to love again as I had before.

I'd spent so long living and breathing the club that I'd forgotten how to be anything other than a president.

"Should I get used to you sneaking out at three in the morning?" I glanced over to find Shay standing in the doorway, a blanket wrapped around her. She leaned against the doorframe. There was a slit in the blanket where the sides didn't quite meet that exposed a sliver of completely naked skin from her thigh up to where her hands had the edges clasped at her breasts.

A sheen of sweat glistened lightly across her skin. The heat of the night was almost unbearable that I could only stand sitting out here in a pair of boxers. "I don't make a habit out of it," I explained, taking another drag and eyeing how she chewed her lip. "And you can stop yourself right there. I can see that mind of yours wandering. I'm not running away."

Smoke swirled in the air as I spoke, and Shay dropped her chin for a second, a knowing smile formed on her lips. That'd been the exact thought running through her pretty little head. "Well, you feel like company then or—"

"Come 'ere," I ordered, lifting my arm. She didn't waste a second, shuffling over and tucking her knees up as she climbed onto the sofa. She wiggled in under my arm, and I couldn't help but chuckle as I leaned over to the ashtray. "I'll put this out."

"No, it's okay," she protested, making me pause and look back at her. "I kind of like it. It smells sweet but also not."

I smirked, tapping the cigar on the edge of the ashtray but not putting it out. "So descriptive."

She rolled her eyes. "Well, Mr. Way With Words," she started, her eyes falling to my arm and the chessboard tattoo that twisted around it. "How about you start using some of them to tell me about these tattoos?"

I followed her gaze, admiring the masterpiece I'd had done when Rook died.

I didn't do that enough—take time to appreciate the art that decorated my skin. Most of my tattoos were memorial pieces, reminders of people or parts of my life that I didn't want to forget, some amazing and beautiful, others dark and painful.

Both were important, though.

Both were a part of who I was and the man I'd become.

"That's an ode to the club president before me, Rook," I explained, and she turned those beautiful bright eyes back to me, eager and waiting for a story. The chessboard covered almost my entire bicep, the checkered pattern fading into a background of dark, stormy skies and fallen chess pieces, with two standing firm and proud at the front and center.

The Bishop and the Rook.

"I know Calli told you a little about The Valley." Shay nodded. "Rook saved my life after they threw me out. He took me in and treated me like his son. He taught me everything I know about family, the importance of our brotherhood, and how to be the kind of man who would make him and the people around me proud."

Shay's body sank further into me, her head resting on my shoulder. "He sounds like an amazing man. So, is that how you got your road name?"

I nodded, staring out into the darkness, where a couple of bright stars sparkled over the rooftops. "Some men show up with nicknames that become their road names, but others earn them during their prospect year. Rook earned grandmaster status in chess when he was twenty-one, hence his road name, and when he took me in, he taught me how to play, and the boys would laugh at how we were always talking plays and moves. When I finally prospected and patched in a few years later, they were already calling me Bishop."

Shay looked up, pressing her lips together as she smiled. "I know nothing about chess…"

I chuckled. "A bishop moves only diagonally, and a rook moves horizontally and vertically. They complement each other and can work together both defensively and offensively."

That was the simple version, at least.

I wasn't exactly the best chess player, and I never once beat Rook, but I learned a lot about strategy—on and off the board—and the importance of seizing moments and opportunities before they passed.

"What about this area," Shay questioned. She indicated my chest, which was completely clean. "And you still have some space on your back. How come you haven't filled it yet?"

I looked down at the open space before returning my gaze to her, knowing it probably wouldn't be long before I added something there. "I'm old, but not old enough that I still don't have more memories to come that I will want to immortalize on my body. Nights like this, for instance."

Shay leaned in, pressing her lips to the open space. "You really are quite full of surprises, you know," she murmured before covering a yawn. I reached over, pressing my cigar into the ashtray and forcing the embers to die out. Shay sat up suddenly. "You don't have to…"

I hooked my hand around her thigh, pulling her across me so she was straddling my hips.

The blanket that was wrapped around her fell to her hips, and she braced her hands against my chest, the porch light just bright enough to highlight the flush that burned across her cheeks as I sat back for a moment, just admiring the absolute beauty that was her body. Her breasts were perfect handfuls, her waist a little round, and her stomach not quite flat, and there was a small brush of curly hair right above her pussy that I fucking loved.

I was getting old, and while Shay was young, her body and mind screamed woman, and that's what I wanted.

I was done with club whores.

Done fucking women I knew my brothers also had their dicks in.

I wanted a woman who was mine.

I wanted this—sitting on my porch in the middle of the night with her in my lap, discussing life and the world.

"I'm sorry it took me so long to see this," I apologized, my hands settling on her thighs.

She reached up, tugging at my beard playfully. "You're not the only one who was fighting it. For so long, I had myself convinced I had this crush and that it was very much one-sided. I even tried to get over you by getting under someone else." She shuddered. "I'm so sorry you had to walk in on that the other morning."

"Ah yes, the little prick with the cardigan who couldn't wait to get out the door when he saw me," I muttered, my lip curled in disgust. "That's really what you thought was going to get you to move on?"

I slipped my hands down beneath the blanket and curled them around her ass cheeks, squeezing gently.

She pulled her bottom lip in between her teeth as she grinned, grinding her hips down. "I was desperate, okay?" she protested, her voice catching as I sat forward and swiped my tongue over her nipple. "Dammit, Bishop, you really don't want me to get any sleep tonight, do you?"

"We can sleep later," I told her, hooking my hand around her neck and drawing her close. "Right now, I'm about to make you come until you forget about every other man who has ever touched your body."