Dax, page 7
I raised an eyebrow at her, wondering just how we had gotten here. Of course, things had felt comfortably familiar between the two of us over the last couple days, but it still felt like we were going from zero to ninety faster than the blink of an eye. I had to wonder what her motive was.
She was still leaning against me, though, her soft breasts tight against my body, and I could tell that whatever her motive was, she wanted this. And that was a heady feeling. That had me rock hard in my jeans already.
I grabbed her, lifting her up and spinning her around, setting her down on the kitchen table. I bent down to kiss her again, my fingers already working on the button of her jeans.
Chapter 12
Olivia
I DIDN’T KNOW WHY I couldn’t keep my hands off Dax. Of course, he was sexy, tall and handsome and mysterious. And riding behind him on his bike that afternoon, just aimlessly cruising in an easy circuit around town, had been fun. Then, we’d gotten back to his house, and I’d headed into the kitchen to make dinner, listening to him putter around in the other room. I wasn’t sure what exactly he was up to, but it all felt sweetly domestic.
The last couple of days, I’d started to relax around him. Started to relax into my time there in Greenboro. I was still worried about what I was going to do when I returned to Boston, since I knew there was no way I was going to keep my job given my sudden disappearance, and there was no way I was going to be able to keep my apartment if I wasn’t able to keep paying rent on the place.
But right now, there was nothing I could do about that. Dax had made it very clear that he wasn’t letting me out of his sight, at least not while we were out of the house, and even though that sort of bothered me, there was a bigger part of me that found it sweet that he was so concerned with taking care of me.
I knew that this was just his job. That the only reason he was watching me so closely was because he didn’t want me running off back to Boston. But I could sense something changing in the way he interacted with me too, like maybe he did care what happened to me. And I liked that.
I felt like I was breaking past his layers, one by one. And I liked that.
When he came into the kitchen, I couldn’t keep my hands off him. Dinner wouldn’t be ready for a little while, and honestly, it had been far too long since I’d been with a man. I needed this. I couldn’t keep myself from whimpering and trembling as he kissed my lips, as he touched my body, as he spread me out on the kitchen table and undid the button on my jeans.
He pushed his fingers down below my hemline, shoving my panties to the side and stabbing his fingers into my wet hole. I threw my head back, already gasping for breath, already helplessly coming undone. Dax’s lips found my neck, mouthing at the sensitive skin there and then raking his teeth across my pulse point. Again, I shivered, and he growled. The table shook as he bucked his hips into it, and I couldn’t help but laugh breathlessly.
“You have a bed, don’t you?” I asked.
Dax grinned and scooped me up into his arms, carrying me bridal-style upstairs, carefully to keep my head or feet from bumping the walls as we went. He tossed me on a soft bed, his heated gaze on me as he stripped slowly out of his clothes.
I started stripping as well, but I only got my pants down around my thighs before I couldn’t help myself, desperately stroking my fingers through the slickness between my legs, arching against the sheets as I watched him reveal more of those tattoos and then his thick, curved prick. God, I wanted that inside of me.
Dax watched me play with myself for a moment, reaching down and palming himself a few times. Then, he came over to the bed and impatiently yanked the rest of my clothing off me, throwing it carelessly on the bedroom floor and then covering my body with his.
He mouthed his way down my body, leaving goosebumps in the wake of his lips. With the very tip of his tongue, he traced the lines of the tattoo on my thigh, moving slowly and carefully, taking his time and making me practically sob with impatience.
Finally, he moved farther south with those lush lips of his. He pressed a soft kiss to my pussy as I whimpered and twisted against the blankets. He nuzzled my clit and then buried his tongue inside of me, his hands grabbing my hips and holding me still when I was helpless to keep myself from restlessly shifting against the bed.
But he could clearly sense that I needed something more, and it wasn’t long before he was using something more than his tongue to fill me up. I gasped, clinging to him, my legs automatically wrapping around his waist to keep him close to me, to keep him buried inside of me. I worked my body in time with his, rocking into his thrusts, practically screaming as he hit that spot inside of me over and over again.
He dragged his fingernails down my sides, then caught my hands with either of his, twisting our fingers together and pressing my hands back into the sheets, utterly surrounding me as he filled me to the brim with hot desire.
“Dax!” I screamed as I came, my body shaking apart into a shivering release that pulled him over the brink of orgasm with me. I gasped for air as my whole body trembled, my nerve endings a mess of burning sensation. Dax grunted as my walls quivered around him, clenching and releasing over and over again. He lightly stroked his hands down my body as he pressed his temple against mine, his lips pressing one last soft kiss against my neck, tender counterpoints to the extreme feelings of passion spilling through me.
He rolled to the side, and I couldn’t speak for the longest time, barely able to keep my eyes open. I felt utterly fucked-out, in a way I had never felt before. Like he had played my body just perfectly.
I rolled toward him, putting my head on his chest, and he stroked his fingers lightly down my spine, not seeming to mind the way I cuddled up to him. But finally, his fingers stilled. “There’s something I need to tell you,” he said, and I looked up at the note of unhappiness in his voice.
“What is it?” I asked, heart suddenly pounding from something other than the exertion of glorious passion. Did it have anything to do with going into the clubhouse earlier that day? What had Otis said to him?
“I’m taking you back to Boston tomorrow,” Dax said slowly, and for a moment, I felt my heart soar. But there had to be a reason he was using that tone with me, like he was trying to soothe me before he even finished what he was saying. “You need to get whatever you want out of your apartment there. Because you’re never going to be able to go back.”
I frowned. “Did the gang do something to my place?” I asked, already imagining what the state of it might be. God, I hated to even think of the idea of house-hunting in Boston again when I moved back. It had been hard enough to find a cheap place in the first place, and the only reason I had lucked out like I had was because they were desperate to get someone in there after the previous person bailed on them, and it was protected by rent control, so the price hadn’t gone up like the prices of all the other apartments in the area.
But I supposed that if that was what I had to do to make sure that the gang didn’t find me, then that was what I would have to do. Maybe I could stay with Becca and David while I looked for a place. That would be nice, at least.
Speaking of them— “I’m sure I can leave all my things with Becca until I find a new place there,” I said.
Dax’s expression turned pained. “You’ve pissed off the wrong guys,” Dax said. “I’m sorry, but you’re never going to be able to live in Boston again. Whatever you want from there, you need to bring it here.”
I stared at him, not even sure what to say to him. I was reeling at the thought of it, that I could never go back to Boston. Surely there had to be some kind of mistake. Had Otis even tried to help me?
Or were they just trying to keep me captive here?
I didn’t really think Dax would do that. But how would I ever know? It wasn’t like I really knew the guy, and I knew Otis even less. Why the hell had Becca sent me to them? There had to be some other way, and now I was kicking myself for not getting on that bus back to Boston the first chance that I got.
I started to pull away from Dax, but he still had his strong arms looped around my waist. He looked earnestly at me. “Look, you’re still lucky,” he insisted. “My father thinks that we can get in there and get all your things without running into the Vipers in the process. You’ll still be able to set up your whole life somewhere else. You’re lucky they didn’t catch you. You’re still safe.”
I shook my head. Didn’t he see that safety didn’t matter if I couldn’t live my life? If I was trapped here in Greenboro? I remembered what he had said before, about Greenboro being his whole life. How would he feel if our situations were reversed?
But before I could say anything in response, a shrill beeping started from somewhere downstairs. Dax groaned and released me, leaping to his feet. “I thought you said nothing was going to burn!” he said.
I followed him downstairs to the kitchen, which was filled with smoke. No flames yet, but something had definitely burnt. “Oops,” I said, unable to stop myself from giggling.
Dax rolled his eyes as he turned off the stove and opened the kitchen window to let the smoke out. But I could see he was grinning. I had to admit that life here in Greenboro wasn’t as terrible as I had expected it to be. Dax wasn’t nearly as obnoxious and rude as he had initially seemed to be. In fact, I was starting to sort of like the man.
But all the same, I couldn’t imagine staying in Greenboro. I couldn’t imagine never living in Boston again. That was home. I had to come up with a plan to get myself back there for good.
What the hell was I going to do, though? I had no money, and he wasn’t letting me out of his sight. I was sure he’d be keeping an even closer eye on me when we got to Boston. If I went running to Becca, he’d find me. There was no way to escape.
Whatever this MC decided to do with me, I had no choice but to accept it. No matter what I wanted.
For a moment, I had to let myself picture a life here in Greenboro. What if I stayed here with Dax? What if we continued this act of domestic bliss that we’d been carrying out for the past few days? Could I really live here?
It was nice, not having to worry so much about making ends meet. It was freeing. And we were physically very compatible; I now knew that for sure. But could I stay there? Knowing that the only reason I was still alive was because of him? That the only reason he had taken me in was because of a job?
No, that was the honest truth. I had spent years scraping by, never taking handouts, never compromising myself. This wasn’t the way that things were supposed to be. I shouldn’t owe him everything. I had to find a different way.
But tomorrow, returning to Boston, I realized that I could use his help. His protection. I didn’t know what would be waiting for me at my apartment. Would the Vipers have tried to find me? To get those stupid shoes back? I had to figure that they would have. Even if they hadn’t found me there, they would have wanted to send me a signal.
There was only one thing that I wanted from that apartment. And I needed to go back for it. Once I had that, I could figure out some way to get away from the Grim Riders. But first, I’d let Dax believe that I was on board with this plan to never go back to Boston. When I had my mother’s necklace, I could make a new plan.
Chapter 13
Dax
ON FRIDAY MORNING, I was surprised to wake up with Molly in bed with me. She definitely hadn’t been there when I’d gone to sleep. After the debacle of dinner, we had decided just to go out to eat, heading to the same restaurant as before. When we’d come back, Molly had been quiet and thoughtful, no doubt remembering what I had told her before about never being able to live in Boston again.
My timing hadn’t been great on that, I knew. The sex had been really good, and that information had totally killed the mood afterward. But I hadn’t known what else to do. I felt guilty, keeping it from her. And I had to tell her eventually. She was going to wonder why I was taking her back to Boston. It wasn’t like I could knock her out, drive her there, and just wake her up as we arrived at her place to get her things.
The more time she had to get used to the idea of it, the better things were probably going to be for her.
She had been pretty quiet for the rest of the night, though, and I’d been kicking myself. I didn’t know why I felt so bad about ruining the moment. It wasn’t my fault that she couldn’t go back, but all the same, I felt like I had disappointed her. And I didn’t like that.
It seemed that she wasn’t too upset with me, though, if she was here in my bed, curled up against me. She must have come in sometime during the night, no doubt seeking comfort. I never really woke up with women. The kinds of women that I slept with were usually just quick fucks. We were never looking for anything more, but I found I didn’t really mind having Molly there. She looked sweet, still quietly asleep there. I didn’t want to wake her up.
But she woke up soon enough anyway, and I could tell that she was embarrassed to be caught there. Her cheeks flushed in that familiar way, and she immediately pulled back. Before she could say anything, though, I sat up and got out of bed. “We should get moving,” I told her. “We’ve got a long day ahead of us.”
Molly nodded and got out of bed as well. “I’ll get breakfast going,” she said. “And I guess clean up more of last night’s mess.” We had cleaned up a lot of the mess before dinner, but the pans were still soaking in the sink.
I knew that she was just stalling, though. And I knew that she didn’t want to think of this as being her last trip to Boston and that this was hard for her. But it wasn’t going to get any easier if we put it off. I wanted to get it over with sooner, rather than later. Like Dad had said, I needed to scope out the place before we ever went in there. I needed time to do that.
“We’ll grab something on the way,” I told her. “We need to get a move on.” The sooner we got this over with, the better.
Molly looked like she wanted to argue, but finally, she nodded. “All right.”
I glanced over at her while we drove. She was a little pale, clearly upset, and I didn’t know how to make things better for her. I wanted to reach over and squeeze her leg, to comfort her, I realized suddenly. But I didn’t know where the impulse had come from, or how welcome it would be. She was the one who had crawled into my bed the previous night looking for comfort, though. But maybe things were different in the light of day.
I held myself back, not wanting to make things awkward between us. I didn’t know how long she was going to be in Greenboro or what Dad planned for her. I didn’t want to start something with her that was doomed right from the beginning.
“I don’t have much stuff,” Molly confessed suddenly. She glanced over at me and then quickly turned her gaze back to the road ahead of us. “I’ve never had that much stuff. Just the essentials. No furniture or anything like that, just stuff I salvaged from curbsides. And not many clothes or anything, either. There’s not much to get.”
“Okay,” I said slowly, wondering if she was telling me to just turn around now. But she continued.
“There is one thing. This necklace. It used to be my mother’s.” She shook her head. “It was the one thing I could never sell, no matter how desperate I was for cash. I couldn’t live with it if I lost that. It’s the only thing I have left.”
She sounded like she might cry, and this time I couldn’t stop myself from reaching over and squeezing her hand. She twisted her fingers in mine immediately, holding on, and I let her. When I glanced over at her again, her expression was pensive. “She wasn’t always the best mother, so I don’t know why I really care. I mean, she did the best that she could. She didn’t even have her high school education. It was hard for her to support us. I can’t blame her. Especially not since I guess I’ve grown up to be just the same way that she was. I’m lucky that I never got pregnant.”
“You don’t want kids?” I asked.
“It’s not that I don’t want kids. I just could never bring them into my life in Boston. I’m barely scraping by as it is.” She was blushing again, embarrassed to admit that. No, she definitely wasn’t some rich city woman like I had initially thought she was. Quite the opposite, actually.
It made me wonder why she was so upset about leaving that life behind. I could help her out, at least while she was in Greenboro. She could start again somewhere new, maybe put together a better life.
I knew it wouldn’t look like that to her, though. To her, starting over meant struggling in whole new ways. And leaving behind all her friends in the process, everything that had ever been comfortable to her. Starting over had to feel terrifying; staying in a dead-end job and barely scraping by was all that she had ever known.
I felt something bloom inside of me, a feeling I couldn’t quite put a name to. I stroked my thumb across the back of her knuckles. “We’ll get the necklace,” I promised her, even though I still didn’t know for sure whether we’d be able to. For all we knew, the Vipers could be all over her building, just waiting for her to come creeping back. It might be too dangerous.
But one way or another, we were going to get that necklace. I didn’t know why it was so important to me to help her, but I guess it had something to do with putting myself in her shoes. I could only imagine if this was my life, if I had to leave behind Greenboro and the MC and Kane and everything else. How lonely it would be, how frightening. And still, Molly wasn’t crying. She looked more determined than anything else. There was something impressive about that. Something that really spoke to me on an emotional level.
We were going to get that necklace back.
As we got closer to Boston, Molly gave me directions to get to her neighborhood. Her voice was quiet and subdued, and I could only imagine the thoughts going through her head. She had folded in on herself a little during the drive, especially as we got closer to her building. I idled the truck outside the place that she pointed to. For a moment, neither of us spoke.
