Tears fill Tinsley’s eyes and as the first spills over I swipe it with my thumb.
“But what I said was true. I’m filthy to touch. I can still feel their hands. The pain of their touch. Their voices still fill my head. You don’t want someone who has been through what I have. You deserve someone who can stand up for themselves.”
“Tinsley, did another woman take the blows you did and not give up Cody’s location? Nor did another woman leave her life in order to bring him to his father. Baby, the way I see it, you’re one of the bravest women I’ve ever met.” Leaning forward, I brush my lips against hers. I’m done telling her, now I need to show her.
God help me to keep control of the beast within.
Chapter Seventeen
Tinsley
Holy mother of all mighty.
Coyote brushed his lips against my own sending tingles through my body that I’ve never felt before. Gasping, at the fact he’d kissed me, I wasn’t prepared for what happened next.
His mouth pressing firmer to mine as his tongue sweeps in capturing my own into a dance I’d never experienced before.
I hope I’m doing this right.
Lifting my hand to touch his cheek, I close my eyes and let him continue to kiss me. Coyote takes it as a good sign and moves again, pushing me onto my back as he continues to kiss me. His hands roam up and down my side causing me to moan into his mouth. Maybe I should feel embarrassed, but I don’t because with him I want more. Even if I know it won’t last. He may think so, but I know the truth in all of this.
I’m not enough for a man like him.
Hell, I don’t even know what I’m doing. Where to put my hands or better yet if I’m supposed to be arching my body into his while his hands move under my shirt.
A whimpering from across the room causes Coyote to break the kiss. As he stares down at me, my breath catches in my chest.
“Don’t think we’re done here, baby.” With that he leans down, presses another kiss to my lips, and gets up to grab Cody. “Hey, little man.”
Seeing him lift his little boy up and the way he interacts with him sends a jolt of want through my body.
“You’re really good with him,” I murmur.
“Thanks, I’m eight years older than my sister so I tried to help my mom as much as I could,” he says, smiling.
“You have a sister?” I blurt out the question without even thinking. God, how dumb can I be. I was just making out with a guy I knew nothing about besides the fact he’s in a motorcycle club and has a son.
“Yeah, Cara. She is up at some college right now for her first year.” The way he grumbles makes me wonder if he’s not too happy about that.
“Are you two close?”
“Most of the time we are. Right now she’s not taking my calls due to being pissed with me and pouting about the fact I kinda dragged her out of a frat party when I’d gone to visit her,” he shrugs his shoulders and I swear my jaw about hits the mattress.
“You didn’t.”
Nodding he grins at me. “Yep, sure fuckin’ did. Made sure than none of them dicks would try to come near her. Cara’s up there to get her education, not fuck around and end up knocked up before she has her degree.”
“Oh my God.” I giggle. “No wonder she’s not talking to you. I swear if I had a brother and he did that to me, I wouldn’t talk to him either.” Then again who needs a brother when you have a cousin like Grigory. He’d known my every move in college without being there thanks to the guards he’d put on me.
Only when I graduated college, I had put my foot down on not wanting to be watched over like a little kid. With the promise I’d call him if I felt anything was off, he relented.
“Cara will get over it. She’s coming home soon for Thanksgiving and when she does we will hash it out and that will be that,” Coyote mutters as he climbs up on the bed with Cody in his arms. A bottle in the other. I hadn’t even realized he’d made him a bottle. I thought all the bottles and formula were in the kitchen. “You want to feed him?”
My heart stills within me at the offer. Giving him a small smile, I nod and wait for him to put Cody in my arms.
“Here ya go,” he grins, putting him in the crook of my arm and handing me the bottle.
Looking down at Cody as I place the bottle in his mouth, I have to stop the tears from welling up in my eyes. I don’t know how, but this little guy and Coyote both wormed their way into my heart without even trying.
Is that even possible? For some people to barely know each other yet feel so connected.
“He seems to like being in your arms,” Coyote says, brushing a hand through the little bit of hair on Cody’s head.
Nodding, I don’t say anything as I focus my eyes on the little boy in my arms and seeing the way his dad touches him so gently. This is what I’ve always dreamed of having when I grew up. A man who was protective of me and a child we’d have together. But Cody’s not mine. No matter how much I want that to be different. I feel as if he were mine. I don’t care if he didn’t come from my body.
It’s also the reason I refused to give away his location when Mason let Sam beat the hell out of me after he was finished. My mind wanders back to thoughts of maybe it would be better if I left.
“Luce Mia, I don’t know what’s going through that head of yours but from the expression on your face, I can only guess. And I gotta tell you now, baby, get that shit out of your head.” My gaze snaps to Coyote’s and I lick my lips nervously. His eyes move to follow the motion of my mouth.
“You guys don’t need me here. I’m only putting Cody in danger by being here,” I murmur, speaking my fears.
“What the fuck?” he growls. The way his eyes narrow and his jaw clenches I know without a doubt he’s trying to keep his cool. “Actually no, now what the fuck. I’m going to say this one last time and then we’re fuckin’ moving on from this bullshit. Tinsley, you are not leaving. I’m not going to watch you leave thinkin’ it’s the best thing in protecting Cody. I’ve got that under control. We know what the hell we’re doing and the best thing you can do for him, for yourself, and for fuckin’ me is stay here where I can keep you safe. Do you get what I’m saying?”
Without hesitation, I nod my head in agreement. He’s scary when he wants to be and I’m not about to go against him on this. It’s not like I want to leave him anyway. My heart won’t let me.
Chapter Eighteen
Tinsley
“Tinsley, I swear to fuckin’ God. Get your fuckin’ ass out here right fuckin’ now,” Coyote yells through the door.
I groan and roll my eyes at the tone he’s using. I should have known he’d be pissed when he found out. But in my defense, I’m a grown ass woman and can do what I want. If I want to work that’s my God given right.
Okay, so I probably should have talked to him or at least mentioned it to him, but I didn’t want him to talk me out of it.
It’s been a month since the day Coyote and I shared our first kiss. Since that day, things between the two of us seem to have shifted. The way it happened freaked me out in the beginning but only because I didn’t know what to expect.