When I finished the exam, I swung by Tim Horton’s for my much needed fourth coffee of the day and took out my phone, staring at Dad’s name in my contact list. I wanted to call him, to tell him that I’d just officially finished my degree. He’d shout “fuck yeah” so loud it’d crackle through the phone, and then he’d tell whichever brother he was with, and Lou, that his princess was goin’ to be a nurse. They’d pass the phone around, congratulations coming at me from Bat and Nova, Axe-Man and Lab-Rab, Boner and Curtains and more, all my uncles and best friends and brothers, then Lou, her voice rough with tears and sweet with pride as she told me how much she loved me.
I turned the screen off and pocketed the cell.
I hadn’t returned anyone’s calls in weeks, only perfunctory text messages that assured them I was doing fine, but needed time and space to get my head sorted.
They wouldn’t leave me alone forever, but they trusted me enough to give that to me even though it went against their instincts to guard and cherish me.
I accepted the Double-Double coffee from the barista and took a necessary, steaming sip of coffee to center myself before making my way to the parking lot.
Danner was there, leaning against his black and gold Iron 883 Harley Davidson Sportster. He was in his Berserkers cut, his tawny hair in disarray around his handsome face, his booted feet crossed at the ankles as he sat sideways across the seat.
There was no crowd around him as there had been with Wrath, because even though Danner was less physically intimidating, there was something in his aura that told people to stay away or be damned.
His unapproachability in his biker persona made my nipples hard as rocks.
I sucked by my coffee in less than thirty seconds, scalding my throat, and then threw the empty cup in the garbage. Then, I sauntered up to him and leaned right in, plastering my body against his in a deep curve that had my little jean shorts riding up my ass cheeks. Danner’s eyes flashed as his hand moved to my back, down and over so he could grab my slightly bared butt in a possessive cinch.
“Hey biker man,” I said before pressing a kiss to his rough stubbled cheek, then his square chin and one more on his close-lipped smile. “What’s up?”
“Club’s meeting at Bernadette’s, Reaper sent me to grab ya. We’ll do some time with them, see if we can’t figure out what they’re gonna do with that stolen Fallen weed, then I’m takin’ my Rose out for a celebratory dinner.”
“Yeah?” I asked, and I could physically feel my eyes sparkling at him.
He dipped down to press a firm, spine-tingling kiss to my mouth. “Yeah, rebel.”
“You’re the tits, I ever tell you that?” I asked, propping my elbows on his chest so I could take my chin in my hands as I stared up at him.
He bit the edge of his grin in that way that I loved. “Don’t think you’ve ever said exactly those words, but I’ll take it.”
I nodded firmly. “Not a flowery, girl, so I’d take what you can get.”
This time a low, short chuckle that rumbled through him to me. “Oh, I think you’re plenty flowery. When I get you rooted to the bed with cuffs, you bloom for me, wet and open, so pink it’s plush, and I’ve never seen a flower so pretty.”
I shivered in his arms, a reaction I was beginning to equate to the submissive in me, that strange duality Danner had told me about for years. That I could be both hard and soft. And I was soft for him, tender, pliable and so eager to please.
“Did you get me a graduation present?” I asked, pressing my lips to his so he could feel the intent behind my words.
“Oh yeah,” he growled, nipping my bottom lip with his teeth. “There’s a new steel butt plug at home with your fuckin’ name on it. Gonna use it to open up your sweet ass while I give my cock to your pussy, then I’m gonna give us both a treat by sinking my thick cock in your ass, four fingers in your cunt, my tongue in your mouth so you’re taking all of me, everywhere you can. Only then, when you’re takin’ all I have to give you like the good girl you are, am I gonna fuck you until the only thing you remember is how to scream my name.”
His fingers lifted to the waist of my shorts, his thumb dipping down to tease under the strap of my thong and raise it slightly, just enough so that the gusset of my panties pressed into the fresh wet of my pussy.
“You like the sound of that, Rosie?” he rasped into my panting mouth.
“Sounds alright,” I tried to say casually, but I could feel the hot flush in my cheeks, the low lids of my eyes and the rush of my breath from my suddenly tight chest.
He laughed into my open mouth then kissed it firmly, before pushing me gently away. “Don’t worry, I’ll have you saying easy, pleading yes, Lion’s by the end of the night.”
I waited to shudder when he turned to grab my helmet and by the time he handed it to me, I was mildly composed. He watched me throw my hair over my shoulder, clasp the dome to my head and climb onto the Harley behind him. I pressed a kiss then a bite to his shoulder and promised, “I look forward to seeing you try.”
The bar was filled with Berserkers and their friends. It was celebration time, a mini party to congratulate the brothers on a job well done stealing thousands of dollars’ worth of weed from their rival MC. Every member of the chapter was there, their old ladies and one-night pieces, their kids if they had any, and trusted friends.
So, basically, I’d spent the last three hours separated from Danner and hating it.
I watched him from the pool table where I was playing a game with Reaper, Grease, and Wrath, as he held Laken loosely in his lap, nodding as she used her hands to illustrate some story, her huge breasts practically in his face.
It was easy to forget, when it was just the two of us, that Danner wasn’t only mine.
He had two girlfriends, a biker chick and a straight-laced cop.
Both beautiful, both perfect in one way or another for his life.
It would have been easy to be jealous, but I wasn’t.
Mostly, because when I’d left bed earlier that day telling him I was going to study in the library before my exam, I’d gone into the North Van PD and met with my handler, the one and only Diana Casey. I’d briefed her on the heist even though it was clear from her reaction, Danner had already told her most of the story, and I was annoyed to find out that she was not only beautiful, she was kind. She’d genuinely asked after my health after Cricket’s assault, if I was having nightmares and if I’d met with the trauma counselor. I wasn’t, and I hadn’t, but only because I had Danner and Hero to keep the demons at bay.
I didn’t tell her that.
But she did let slip, as we were walking out the door of her office, her C.I. notebook with my secret identifier #69 on the front, that she hoped Officer Danner was looking out for me in the field. I agreed he was then pushed a little more, asking if they worked closely together on the case.
Her lips had pursed, her eyes lost some luster and she gave a little blasé shrug that tried to mask how hurt she was.
He’d been her boyfriend, she said, for over two years, but he’d broken up with her over a week ago.
She looked horrified by her blunder. I was a criminal from a criminal family and her confidential informant. There wasn’t supposed to be an exchange of any personal information. But rules were meant to be broken, and Danner had told me that they usually were between handler and C.I. because it wasn’t a relationship that could form without trust.