Chapter Six

Shadow

“What the fuck is happening to the lot of you?” Dagger, one of the lower-level enforces asks. “Everyone is dropping like flies. Is there some kind of curse on the club that makes all the members fall in love?” His words, spoken with a sneer, ring through the air, and everyone’s attention shifts to me. I can sense their eyes on me, the weight of their scrutiny heavy, but I don’t really care. Let them look. “I never would have guessed you’d be the next to fall, Shadow.”

The room falls into a palpable silence, broken finally by our president, Priest, who shifts his attention to Dagger. “You should be so lucky to find what we have. Love doesn’t weaken the club, Dagger. If anything, it makes us stronger. We have more to lose than we ever have before. That makes us dangerous.”

“One trust fund baby is enough for this club, don’t you think?”

I want to argue that Lisa is not a trust fund baby, but I would be lying. While she was asleep, I looked into her background. Her parents are not in the political world like Sasha’s, but they are still wealthy, and with that kind of wealth, comes power. I know that, Priest knows that, and so do the rest of our brothers.

“What the fuck happened to keeping it simple with no-strings hook-ups, huh?”

I stand against the wall, a pillar of calm amid the storm of hushed murmurs. The weight of my brothers’ collective gaze presses down on me, but I keep my mask of indifference, and the truth is . . . I am not worried about Lisa’s background.

I am more concerned about mine.

The only people in this club who know of my past are Priest and Knight, and even they don’t really understand the extent of it. They know I was in the Bratva before I faked my death and escaped six years ago. They have no clue of the things I did in my previous life to be able to get out. To be the man I am today, and Lisa . . . she gives me hope.

The girl feels like a breath of fresh air after drowning for so long. Being with Lisa makes me feel alive again.

“Enough,” Priest orders. He doesn’t yell, but then our president doesn’t have to. He can command a room of rough and ready bikers without ever raising his voice. “This isn’t up for discussion. Shadow has been one of us for six years. We know we can trust him and his judgment.”

“She’s mine,” I tell my brothers, watching as Dagger’s face turns ruddy with anger.

“Fuck!” he curses. “These girls are going to draw too much attention to us!”

Priest locks eyes with Dagger and stares at him for a long moment. The tension between them is like a thread pulled tight, ready to snap at any moment. Finally, he says, “This isn’t up for negotiation. Shadow has claimed Lisa, and that’s final. Besides, Lisa is Sasha’s cousin. She’s already family.” He pulls back to look over everyone in the room before locking eyes with me. “If Lisa is who Shadow wants, he has the full support of the Steel Order MC. Anyone who doesn’t like it, is free to leave.”

With that, he moves on swiftly to the next item on the agenda, allowing no time for anyone to argue. Dagger huffs in his seat, but stays silent. The topic shifts to the Broken Chains, the rival MC that have been a pain in our asses for years now. Ever since the president of the Broken Chains got arrested five years ago, the club has been a mess. There are rumors that he is set to be released soon, but we have no idea whether his return will be for the better or worse. There isn’t much left of the Broken Chains MC these days anyway, not after we uncovered their human trafficking ring and took them down. The few remaining members we weren’t able to find have gone into hiding.

I remain a silent figure as my brothers discuss everything on the agenda, and soon, we’re dismissed. Some of the members stay back for a drink, but I turn down their invitation to join them. Normally I would stay and socialize a bit— or my version of it at least, which is standing stoically in the corner and listening to their wild and mostly made-up stories. But tonight, I have someone waiting for me.

I walk out of the meeting room and head upstairs, no one tries to stop me. My bedroom is quiet when I walk in, and at first, I don’t see Lisa.

The overstuffed chair where she’d curled up with her computer to write earlier in the evening is empty. My heart hammers in my chest at not immediately finding her where I expected, but then I notice the pile of blankets and pillows on the bed, my girl curled up in her make-shift nest, dressed in only a shirt she must have grabbed from my closet. Her laptop is open next to her as if she fell asleep watching something.

I grab it before she can roll over and knock it off the bed. When I look at the screen, my heart almost beats out of my chest as my eyes land on some kind of grotesque monster. It takes me a second to make sense of what I am looking at.

A horror movie.

Of course, makes total sense.

Only this girl would doze off to a horror movie. Why am I even surprised?

I shut off the screen and place it on the nightstand before stripping down to my underwear and climbing into bed next to Lisa, pulling pillows and throw blankets out of my way as I do. Where did she even find all this? I sure as fuck don’t have this many blankets lying around.

I brush a dark strand from her face, and she stirs, her sleep-heavy eyes fluttering open, and I suck in a sharp breath when those beautiful blue eyes lock on mine. The air is fills with intense heat, but we just stare at one another for a long moment, neither of us moving until she finally breaks the silence.

“I was going to sneak out, call a taxi, and go home,” she tells me.

“But you decided to watch a horror movie instead and dozed off?” I don’t mention the fact it would have been impossible for her to sneak out without being stopped by one of the many prospects tasked with security.

“Yeah, I realized that your internet is stronger than mine, so I decided to at least stay the night.”

I am not one bit surprised that she would want to run. She is under the illusion that what we’re doing will end at some point and she’ll go back to being alone, and she is trying to leave before she gets too attached, but it’s a little too late for that.

Perhaps if she’d decided to leave before I brought her to my room, then maybe . . . maybe she’d have had a chance of living a lonely life, but she’s mine now. I meant it when I told my brothers that Lisa is mine, and I protect what belongs to me.

With our eyes locked on each other, I run the back of my hand over her cheeks. “I have something else that you don’t have back home.”

“Something better than the strong internet connection?” she whispers, wetting her lips when I brush my thumb over them before trailing my fingers down her jaw and neck to the swell of her tits.

“Yes, better than the internet connection,” I tell her, dropping my mouth to take hers in a deep kiss that has my dick stiffening to steel. She whimpers against my lips when I brush a finger over her hardening nipples, and she pushes up from the bed to climb on my lap. “Careful now,” I say with a rough chuckle, catching her waist before she can send us both toppling off the side of the bed. I hiss when she rocks forward, her pussy rubbing at the hard ridge threatening to burst through my underwear.

This girl is a test of my control, and I have to remind myself that she’s new to all this and to not move too fast on the eager girl, but fuck, does she make it hard for me to slow down. She claws my chest, her fingers hungrily digging into my skin.

“You better slow down if you don’t want me to push you back on the bed and plow you so hard, they’ll hear you downstairs,” I say hoarsely against her lips.

“Oh!” She sucks a sharp breath at my words, but where I expect fear, she only seems more excited as she rocks her clothed pussy over my erection. “I do want that,” she breathes, bringing our lips back together in a messy kiss, and I can’t help but groan at the sweetness I taste on her tongue. I slide my hand up her nape and into her hair to grab a fistful and tug gently as I sweep my tongue hungrily between her perfect lips. She makes a little mewling sound when I slide my free hand under her shirt and cup her naked tits, fondling them needily.

I break the kiss to trail my lips along her jaw and drag my tongue down the column of her neck, tugging gently at her hair to tilt her head back and allow me access to more of her soft skin. I almost go feral when I smell my soap on her skin.

“Take me out,” I say roughly, nipping gently at her skin, and her fingers drop to the top of my underwear where she fumbles with the fabric a bit before she tugs it down. I grunt deeply when her featherlight fingers close around my shaft, and it takes everything in me to not shoot in her palm. “Going to fuck you, Pink, rut your tight little pussy so hard, they’ll hear your cries from the city.”

“Yes,” she whimpers, a shiver passing through her even as he jerks my cock. I watch her closely as I yank her thong down her thighs before tearing the flimsy little thing completely off and tossing it over my shoulder.

“You’re so fucking sexy, baby,” I grind out, rubbing my thumb over her folds and biting back a groan when I find her pussy slick with arousal. She whimpers, fingers closing tightly around my length when I slide my middle finger into her tight little hole. “So slick for my cock. How much do you want me to hold back when I take this perfect little cunt?”

“No,” she gasps, her eyes glazed as she rides my finger. “Don’t . . . don’t hold back. Need you .”

“Good, because I wasn’t planning to.”

I withdraw my finger from her pulsing sex and slide my hands under her ass before lifting to position her on my cock. She gasps when I press the head to her trembling hole, and her back arches as I slowly lower her on my rigid shaft.

“Ah, Shadow.” Her whimper joins my groan when I get her fully seated on my cock, and I have to clench my teeth to stop my balls from exploding.

“So fucking tight, Pink,” I say roughly, grabbing her waist when she moves. Fuck, I cannot afford to spill just yet, but her pussy is so fucking tight around my shaft, pressing all my control buttons. “Give me a second, baby.”

“Need it,” she whispers brokenly, rocking her hips gently over mine with her lips parting and eyes closing from the pleasure. In this moment, I would not have believed her sexual inexperience if I hadn’t taken her virginity myself, but I seem to have unlocked something in her.

“Fuck me, you’re so horny, little girl,” I say, and her glassy eyes lock on mine, telling me everything I need to know about what she’s feeling, and when she starts moving, it’s like she’s in heat and can’t get enough. Her need almost matches mine. Almost.

“Need you, Shadow,” she whines, and I roll us over on the bed. She wraps her thighs around me as I plunge my cock back into her with all the force of my desperation, and it has her back arching and a loud cry ripping from her throat.

“Is this what you want?” I growl hoarsely, sliding deep into her flexing pussy. She clenches hard around me, her lips parting on a sob when I pull out and slam back into her snug, wet sex so hard I move the bed, but that doesn’t stop me. “Going to pump this tight little pussy with my seed. Fill you up until you’re dripping.”

“Yes! Oh God!”

I drink in her flushed expression as I pick up the pace, thrusting my cock into her faster and harder until she’s sobbing with the need to come. “Mine,” slips out, but I don’t take it back, because it’s the truth. Lisa is mine, and I will not stop until she and the rest of the world know it too. “You’re mine, Pink. Mine!”

I don’t watch for her reaction as I dig my fingers into her thighs, rutting her so hard, she claws at the sheets, and I feel her grow closer to her tipping point. “Close, Shadow . . .”

I drop my forearm on the spot above her head and slam into with everything I have; it’s almost animalistic how it happens. My thrusts turn punishing as everything in me begs to see her come apart in my arms. Her pleasured sobs mingle with my harsh grunts, and when she finally comes, I’m glad I get to see it happen.

To be the reason it happens.

She comes with a scream, her body bucking underneath mine and her walls clamping hard around my shaft, snapping my control. I come with a bellow, black spots blooming behind my lids as my gut clenches painfully a second before pleasure shoots up my spine and I am shooting thick ropes of my seed into her womb.

“Fuuck!” I curse out as I pump my cock into her wet pussy, burying my seed deep into her. Shudders rack my body as the high fades and my muscles go lax. I slowly lower myself down on top of her, my heart tugging painfully when she wraps her arms over my shoulders. We stay locked in silence, with our labored breathing the only sound in the room until she finally breaks it.

“You called me yours,” she whispers, the words muttered so quietly, I almost miss them. “Please don’t say what you don’t mean. I might take your words seriously and latch onto you like some bug. What’s that bug that latches on and sticks? A tick?”

Her words are meant to be humorous, but I have realized she uses humor to hide her insecurities. She doesn’t need to hide anymore. Not from me at least. We’ll work on that.

“I meant the words, Lisa. You belong to me now,” I tell her. “You became mine the second you showed up here demanding to see your cousin.”

She sniffs. “You don’t really mean that; no one ever does. Even the people who promise to love me always leave. So don’t promise me anything. It’ll only make it worse when this thing between us ends.”

“I won’t say the words until you’re ready to hear them, Lisa. But know that I feel them, and I meant what I said. I’ll prove to you that I’m not like anyone else. You’re mine, and I’m yours. End of story.”

She doesn’t say anything else, but I can hear the occasional sniffle she tries to hide. We stay locked together for a long time, until I figure I’m probably crushing her and try to move, but my attempt to roll off her is met with resistance.

“No, stay,” she whispers, running her fingertips over my shoulder.

“I’m not leaving, but I’m so much larger than you, I’ll crush you if I don’t move.”

She finally gives in, and I roll to my back before pulling her body on top of mine. She drops her head on my chest, and we stay locked in each other’s embrace all night.