“Who’s there?” My voice is small and afraid.
“Daddy.”
Not my daddy. Koyn.
“I’m scared,” I admit in a whisper.
“Don’t be scared,” he says in a soothing voice. “I’m here.”
He crawls into bed with me, curling his strong arm around me. I expect for the anger to flare up, but it’s gone. Completely absent. All I want is for him to hold me and chase away the fear.
“You’re safe with me,” he vows. Somehow I believe him. “Go to sleep, baby girl.”
And I do.
I squint against the morning light and take stock of my situation. There’s a man in my bed. Not just any man, him. Koyn. And my needy ass is wrapped around him like I belong there. Worst part is, he wears nothing but a black pair of boxers. His body is on full display for my morning viewing pleasure.
God, what a pleasure it is, too.
He’s muscular and a tangle of thorns in the shape of a heart is inked over his heart. I see their names woven in: Eleanor and Blaire. His body is smooth with a dusting of chest hair over his pecks and upper torso. Then, there’s a dark trail of hair from his bellybutton that disappears into the waistband of his boxers. The blanket covers what’s hiding in those boxers, but I’m curious. So curious, I drag the covers down to see what he’s packing.
Nice.
Really nice.
Of course my captor would be hung like a horse. I try to ignore the jittery feeling that instills inside me. I’m not supposed to be attracted to a monster, but he’s here and I’m fucking attracted. Ignoring the need to stare at his boxers covered cock any longer, I trail my stare back up his chest to his face. His arm is resting over his eyes and his bicep bulges. I’ve never had the urge to touch underarm hair before, but his looks dark and soft and clean. I curl my hand into a fist so I don’t do anything bizarre like pet his armpit.
Besides, this is the guy who spanked me last night. Like a little kid.
He also held me and kept the nightmares away.
I’m torn between being thankful and angry.
I settle for agitated and focus on his full, pink lips and the dark facial hair that’s grown in some along his jaw. From beneath his arm, I see the mottled scarring on his face. I’m curious as to how he came to get a giant “X” permanently gouged into his skin. It’s creepy, but also kind of sad. Stormy said his family was murdered. Did they try and murder him too?
I notice the moment he wakes because he tenses. His arm remains over his eyes, but I can feel him taking in his surroundings. He doesn’t speak. Just continues to hide as though he didn’t crawl into my bed last night. To test him, I brush my fingertips between his pecks, marveling in the way his nipples harden, before walking my fingers down the groove between his abs right toward his—
“Stop,” he growls, his hand gripping my wrist almost painfully.
“Stop what?”
“Whatever the fuck you were about to do.”
His arm slides away just so he can glower at me. In the morning light, he seems extra grumpy.
“Jack you off,” I taunt.
He clenches his jaw. “I need a smoke.”
Rolling away from me, he gives me a prime view of his muscular back and tight ass. For being an old guy, he’s fit as hell. Even Junior wasn’t cut like this. I don’t miss the semi he’s sporting in his boxers and stare unabashedly until he disappears from the room.
Now that he’s gone, the bed feels cold again.
Lonely.
Whatever.
I jump out of bed and stalk over to the shower to wash his manly scent off me.
Fucker.
“I’m bored.”
Stormy sits back, recaps her mascara, and frowns. “What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know,” I grumble. “Not this. Not while they have their closed door meetings and we do nothing.”
“Want to watch a movie?”
“Ugh, no. I want to…explore.”
She shakes her head. “Not gonna happen.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’ll run away.”
I roll my eyes and let out a huff. “I’ll die of boredom before I could ever even dream of leaving.”
“We could go swimming,” she offers.
“It’s November, dummy.”
“The pool’s heated, asshole.”
“Skinny-dipping?”
“Hell no, PG. I’d get shot for allowing that to happen.”
“For a biker bitch, you’re awfully conservative.”
She flinches at my words but then laughs. “My bikinis sure as hell aren’t conservative.” She digs around in her drawer before producing two. “White for the innocent, virginal young bitch. And black for the queen.”
I roll my eyes but accept the white swimsuit. She peels off her top and flashes her tits at me. Everything about Stormy is perfect. It makes me feel inadequate. Ignoring those self-loathing thoughts, I change into the white suit.
“This is a bad idea,” she says and bites down on her bottom lip as she peruses her gaze up my body.
“Why?”
“Because you look like a snack, Hadley. There are like ten bikers in there who would probably like a bite.”
“Not all ten,” I argue. “Koyn thinks he’s my daddy.”
“I could tell by the ass whipping he gave you last night.” She walks into the bathroom and grabs two towels. “You kind of deserved that.”
“Rude,” I scoff, but I know I did. I wanted to see how far I could push him.
“Try not to taunt any of those dickheads, m’kay?”
“Can’t make any promises.”
It’s cold out today. Really cold. The steam from the pool clouds around us. Both Stormy and I are standing as deep as we can and still keeping our heads above water. It’s quiet aside from the wind whistling.
The back door opens and several deep voices start chattering. I hear the flick of a lighter. Someone coughs. A laugh.
Stormy opens her mouth, but I shush her with a hand over it.
“…it’s an alias…”
“…has to come from money…”
“…Dallas…”
I freeze, my eyes going wide, and my hand slides away, splashing the water.
“Someone’s in the pool,” Payne growls, stalking around the side of the house.
Behind him, Filter and Koyn come to stand. Koyn’s gaze is razor-sharp as his cheeks suck in, inhaling a drag from his cigarette.
“Spying?” Koyn growls, his fury directed at Stormy.
“Yeah,” I huff. “I was. She didn’t want to.”
Stormy doesn’t deserve Koyn’s wrath.
“Get out of the pool.” Koyn drops his cigarette to the concrete and stubs it out with his black boot.
“Too cold.” I smile sweetly at him.
Filter curses under his breath and Stormy glowers at me.
At least Koyn’s not boring.
“Get. Out. Of. The. Pool.”
I swim to the deepest part, away from the sides, and unhook the back of my bikini top. “Nah, I’d rather stay here where it’s hot.”
As soon as Koyn realizes I’m taking off my top, he loses his shit, pacing the side like a bull ready to charge. But I’m safe. I flash him a wicked grin before pulling the bikini top out of the water and slinging it at him. It makes a splash near the edge. What makes a bigger splash is him.