Page 21 of Chaos Bound
He fed her the last bit of the donut, his fingers brushing over her lips as he placed it on her tongue. He seemed fascinated by her mouth, his gaze never leaving her face despite Ally’s less-than-discrete coughing beside him.
When she finished the last bite, he dabbed some excess jelly from the corner of her mouth with a napkin and smiled.
“Good?”
“Yes.” She nibbled her bottom lip, tasting the lingering sweetness. “Every bite was a surprise. Some with lots of jelly. Some—” She cut herself off. God, she sounded stupid. Everyone knew how a donut tasted.
But Holt didn’t laugh. “Some without,” he continued for her. “Unpredictability is what makes life interesting. Kept me going in that dungeon. I’d spend hours trying to guess what Viper would do next, whether the next day would be my last, whether the Sinners would show up…” His voice trailed off and Naiya’s heart clenched. She knew that feeling. When the trauma invaded even your happy moments. When it just wouldn’t let go.
“How come you never feed me donuts?” Ally lightened the moment by giving Doug a nudge.
“’Cause you’d bite off my hand.” Seemingly oblivious to Ally’s mock glare, Doug lifted a honey-glazed donut from the box.
“After that comment, I’m definitely gonna be biting something off tonight,” Ally huffed. “And it’s not your hand.”
With a laugh, Doug stood and gestured to Holt. “You want to come for a walk, stretch your legs? Then we can plan with the ladies where to go from here. I might have to come with you if the wife’s gonna bite off my dick.”
After they’d gone, Ally sipped her coffee, uncharacteristically silent, while Naiya tidied up their breakfast. By the time she finished, Ally was over at the window, watching Doug and Holt in the parking lot.
“I like him,” Ally said. “A lot. He’s very protective of you.”
“He’s been alone for a long time. It makes sense he needs a friend.” She shoved the bedspread aside and sat on the bed. “What’s going on, Ally? You’re not usually so quiet.”
Ally turned, drew in a deep breath. “It’s about Maurice. I just don’t know how to tell you. Doug thought I shouldn’t tell you and let Maurice tell you himself, but I’d want to know and I think you would, too. And now that I’ve met Holt, I feel better about telling you.”
“Tell me what.” She twisted her ring around her finger.
“Doug couldn’t get in touch with Maurice last night, so he swung by his place. He was… “She bit her lip and a pained expression crossed her face. “With someone else. A woman. And she wasn’t delivering pizzas. He was with her. If you know what I mean.”
Naiya stared at her friend aghast. “Doug saw them together?”
“Maurice came to the door in his underwear, and she wasn’t far behind. When he saw it was Doug, he came clean. He said it had been going on for a year. He cares about you, but—”
“But I wouldn’t have sex with him.” Her shoulders slumped.
“I’m so sorry, Naiya.” Ally crossed the floor and wrapped her in a hug, but Naiya didn’t need her comfort. She was disappointed, sure, but not particularly sad. Definitely not the kind of sadness she would have expected to feel at the end of a two-year relationship.
“I would have slept with him,” she said, pulling away. “I told him that. In the beginning, I just wanted to go slow. But he said he was fine with waiting. He never pushed, never asked. And then platonic just became normal.”
“He told Doug he didn’t push because he didn’t want you to do it just to make him happy. He wanted you to want him, and he never felt you wanted him that way.”
Now that took the air from her lungs. “He’s right,” she whispered. “He’s a nice guy, but he never made me hot. I never fantasized about him, never dreamed about him touching me. Even when we kissed, it was nice, but I didn’t feel anything. I figured it was because of what happened to me because it was always like that with the guys I’ve been with until…”
Ally’s face brightened. “Until?”
“Now.” Naiya glanced over at the window. Holt leaned against a fence, his Bolton Beaver sweats riding low on his narrow hips, T-shirt tight around his chest. Even starved and injured, dressed as a tourist, he exuded strength, confidence, and a raw sexuality that took her breath away.
“When he fed me that donut…”
“Yeah.” Ally pretended to fan herself. “It was better than some of the porn Doug downloads on a Saturday night.”
“It made me hot,” Naiya continued. “I’ve never felt like that before. And when I look at him… even all bruised and beaten… he’s the most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen. But it’s stupid. We just met. He’s hurt—”
“Not where it counts.”
Naiya snorted a laugh. Ally was nothing if not direct. “And he’s on a quest for vengeance—not just against Viper and the Jacks, but the Sinners, too. I thought he’d go back to his club, and they would help me, but he’s gone rogue, and I don’t want to get dragged into something that’s going to put me right back where I started. I need to hide from Viper and then I need to find a job so I can have a nice, quiet life and maybe meet someone stable to settle down with.” She squeezed her hand around her ring. “Did Maurice… give Doug a note or did he ask me to call?”
“No, honey.” Ally’s nose crinkled in disgust. “He asked Doug to tell you it was over, the little shit. I always knew he had no balls, but that just proved it to me. He couldn’t even tell you to your face, or at least do it over the phone.”
