Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 44774 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 224(@200wpm)___ 179(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44774 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 224(@200wpm)___ 179(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
Very slowly, to give her time to change her mind, I sat on the bed, sliding under the covers. To my surprise, Jolene reached for me, letting me wrap my arms around her as she settled her head on my chest. In that moment, I knew I could happily lie there forever. Nothing else had to happen. Sure, she was a beautiful woman. One I wanted with every fiber of my being. But I was more content than I could ever remember just holding her. As long as she was in my arms like this, no one could harm her. Least of all our fucking families.
I thought she might just lie like that, trembling in my arms. I knew she wept softly, but she held it in. All but the tears. There was no way I was going to force her to talk about this. Hell, I kind of preferred she didn’t. Just seeing the evidence of what had happened was bad enough. If she started describing what happened, I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t lose my mind. She might not have been my woman then, but she was now.
“The men who did this to me were Avery, his brother, Clyde, and five of their cousins. Avery wasn’t in on the rape, but he told them where I’d be, and they had to be quick about it because he’d only paid for the room for an hour.” I tried to just relax. I petted her hair for comfort, trying not to spook her when I wanted to jump up and pace. Before punching something. “You know what happened with that. What you don’t know is that Avery recorded us having sex. He even promised he loved me. That we’d be the only Hatfields and McCoys to ever make a permanent match. That’s how he got me to agree to have sex with him. I knew he didn’t love me. I didn’t love him.”
“But the words meant something to you.”
She nodded, letting out one small sob. “Then he betrayed me.”
“I’m claimin’ you as my ol’ lady, Jolene,” I said. “I know you don’t know what that means, but it’s permanent in my club. We’re as good as married. Even before I put my property patch on your cut.”
“Cut?” She stilled in my arms.
“A vest. On the back, it’ll have my club emblem. This is Bones. My club is a sister club in Florida. Salvation’s Bane. You’ll have that patch and ‘Property of’ above it and ‘Styx’ below it.”
“Property of Styx?”
“Yeah, but it’s not like it sounds. Talk to Angel tomorrow. She’ll explain it better’n I can. But you’ll be mine.”
“What about you?”
“I don’t cheat, Jolene. Not ever. If that’s what you’re worried about.”
She was quiet for a while. I’d almost dozed off when she finally said, “What if I can’t have sex with you?”
“Always been good at jerkin’ off, Jolene. No reason I gotta stop.”
Surprisingly, she giggled. Just a small sound, but she clutched me tighter. “I’ll try. Since you’re my hero and all. I mean, Mama always said if you touched yourself, you’d go blind. I don’t want that.”
I thought about it for a minute, pretending to give it real thought when I wanted to laugh, myself. “I mean, yeah. I’d hate going blind. Wonder how many times you have to do it before that happens?”
“Don’t know. How many times have you done it?”
“Way more’n I can count.”
“That many?”
“Yeah, baby. That many.”
Again she was quiet for a bit.
“Maybe we should try it pretty soon. I mean, if you can’t count that high, you’ve got to be getting close to the point of no return.”
I did laugh then. She did too. I kissed her forehead gently, tightening my hold on her. “You rest now. I gotta meet with Cain and my brothers here, but I won’t be long. Then I’ll spend the whole day with you. We’ll get to know each other. Talk about my masturbation habits and what you’re willing to do about it.”
“Please don’t break my heart, Ruben,” she said, her voice quavering. “You took care of me. Helped me. Maybe I’m focusing on you because of all that, but I know I never cared about Avery the way I care about you. You’ve made me feel safe like I’ve never felt before in my life. I can’t… If you don’t feel the same way, that’s fine. Just tell me. Don’t make me think you want me when you only want something from me.”
“Care about you, too, baby. I’ll never willingly hurt you. Not ever.”
“Good. Because I’d hate to have to carve up your balls.”
Again, I laughed. “You’re gonna fit right in, baby. You’re a biker’s ol’ lady through and through. And they’re some of the fiercest women I know.”
She snuggled even closer, her fingers clutching my shirt. Then drifted off to sleep.