Page 27 of Protected by the Biker (Grim Reaper MC)
***
I parked my bike outside Ensley's apartment building, and I could already see Jamison's bike there.
I could feel all my limbs beginning to ache now. When was the last time I had gotten any sleep? When did I even eat last? None of that mattered though, and I rushed up the stairs and rapped on her door. Jamison took a few moments to open, and when he did, I barged into the apartment. Ensley was sitting huddled on her couch, and I could see that Jamison had made her some tea and a plate of sandwiches.
"All good?" he asked me, while I stared at Ensley. I had eyes only for her.
"All good," I said.
Ensley looked tired when I first walked into the apartment, but now suddenly, there was a renewed brightness in her eyes. The tops of her cheeks had bright red spots on them, and the velvet throw she had wrapped around herself came undone.
"I guess I should be going now," Jamison said, as I took my first few steps towards Ensley.
"Yeah, you should go," I said.
"Thank you for everything, Jamison," Ensley said, looking over my shoulder at Jamison's retreating figure.
I heard the door shut behind me, and we were looking at each other again.
"You're here," Ensley said, and there was a soft smile tugging the corners of her lips.
"And so are you," I said, and she blushed even harder.
"I didn't expect you to come back here. Not tonight," she said, and I stepped even closer to her.
"Well, technically it's early morning. It's the next day," I said to her, and she rolled her eyes. I was glad to see that she still had a sense of humor.
"You know what I mean, Thorn," she said and held my gaze intensely. I did know what she meant, but I wanted to hear the words from her mouth. We had been dancing around this for way too long. It was time that we discussed the subject that should have been discussed from the first night I spent at her apartment.
"Tell me what you mean, Ensley," I said, and now I was standing right over her. She was craning her neck to look up at me. Her blue eyes were bright with excitement, and I had forgotten all about the fact that I needed to sleep.
***
I took Ensley into my arms, and my lips covered hers. She opened her mouth to me, and my tongue slipped in between her lips. She tasted just as sweet as I remembered her, and she clung to me tightly.
As we kissed, I lifted her off the couch, and she wrapped her legs around my groin. My hands were around her waist, her hands were on my chest, and I could already feel my cock hardening in my pants.
We both knew what was going to happen. What always happened when we were alone together. It was like she had some kind of invisible hold over me and I couldn't shake it off. But we needed to talk first. Before we got naked with each other again.
"Ensley," I said her name gravely when I pulled my lips away from her. She was peering into my eyes, looking at me longingly.
"I want to make sure that you're doing okay," I said, and she let her legs drift down, and unwrapped herself from me. Her eyes were flooding up with tears again, and I could feel that familiar feeling rising up in me again.
"I hate seeing you cry," I grunted, and she dabbed the corners of her eyes with her knuckles.
"I'm crying from relief," she said, with a weak laugh. Then she lifted herself up on her toes and reached to leave a kiss on my cheek.
"I'm happy, Thorn. I'm relieved that this is all over now. I can finally go to sleep tonight and not be afraid," she said, and then she gave her hand to me.
Ensley was leading me into her bedroom, and I had no other choice but to follow her. I could see that she had tidied up the room after all the mess that Ryan had left it in when he'd abducted her from the room. I could also sense that it was not something that she wanted to talk about.
"Ensley, I'm sorry that this happened to you, under my watch," I said, and she turned to me and shook her head.
"I don't blame anyone but myself. Ryan was going to find me eventually. Jamison blames himself too, but you have no idea how grateful I am to you and your MC for rescuing me. You have all done a good job, and I want you to know that" she said and sat down on her bed.
I was standing in front of her, watching her as she spoke.
What had I done to deserve the company of this woman? Why was she even interested in still talking to me? What did she see in me that I didn't?
A smile was spreading on Ensley's face.
"Thorn, I need you to stop worrying about me," she said, and I stepped up to her. I took her face in my hands and pressed her cheeks to my stomach as I stroked her head.
"You will never have to be afraid again," I said, and she looked up at me and nodded her head.
"And it's all because of you. You made that happen, thank you," she said, and I leaned forward and kissed her lips again. There was so much that I needed to tell her. I needed her to know how I felt about her, but I didn't have the words for it. I didn't know what to say to explain to her what I was feeling.
"Thorn, I'm glad you came back, that you came here," she said when we parted again. I stroked her forehead and her head. I was in her bedroom. We were alone together in her apartment. There was only one thing this was going to lead to, but for the first time in my life; I wanted more than just sex from a woman.
"There was nowhere else for me to go," I replied, and I watched as Ensley's eyes widened. That was not the response she was expecting from me. That was not what I was expecting to say either.
"I'm glad we bumped into each other than night. I'm glad that stupid hipster was hitting on me," she added with a laugh, and now I took her into my arms again. I was biding my time to say the words, but how long was I going to keep it to myself?
"Ensley, I'm in love with you," I said in a rush, and when the words came out of my mouth, there was a serene silence in the room. It was like I could hear the light bulbs glowing in the room, I could hear her breathing and my own heart beating.
I had never said that word. I didn't even know what that word sounded like aloud, coming from me.
Ensley gasped when she heard it and then stood up with a jerk.
"I'm in love with you too, Thorn," she said and threw her arms around my neck.
I was holding her close to myself like I wasn't prepared to ever let her go. She was the most amazing thing that had happened to me, and even though I thought I had lost her there for a while, she was back in my arms again now. And she loved me! She felt the same things that I was feeling for her!
We fell into bed together, still wrapped up in each other's arms. I whispered in her ear, everything that I wanted to do to her, and she giggled
and snuggled even closer to me.
Outside her room, the sun was rising, and the sky had turned bright. The rest of the city was going to be waking up, and we had just gotten into bed. As much as I loved her, and as desperately as I wanted to fuck her again, with Ensley in my arms and with the threat gone now-we were both falling asleep. It was going to be the best sleep of our lives.
Epilogue
Two Months Later
Ensley
"Without my boyfriend Thorn, I wouldn't be where I am today. Family is everything," I said, just as a crowd of cheer rang out in the audience. It was another talk show and another host whose questions I had to answer.
These days, I made it a point to be thankful every day for the blessings I had in my life. One of the most important of which, was having Thorn there with me. Waking up beside him was a blessing. I had never felt more valued and never been more in love before.
In the past two months, I had recovered everything. It was only after being in a relationship with Thorn that I had discovered how deeply Ryan had affected me. I had regained my confidence, I had regained self-love, and slowly, I was also starting to rebuild my lost relationship with friends from my past and family. Not all hope was lost, and Thorn had been a major influence in that.
Being with him had shown me that I could have both, a loving relationship and my own life.
Everything I had thought about Thorn when he had first walked into the bar that night was wrong. I had misjudged him and stereotyped him. Yes, he was a hard man, toughened by the life he led. Yes, he was the President of a Motorcycle Club, and at some point, they had been involved in businesses that were illegal and dangerous. However, now, they were running a legitimate protection agency, and no matter how tough Thorn's exterior was, he was the softest most genuine man inside. I was a lucky woman, even though he never forgot to show me how lucky he was to have me either.
I unclipped the microphone from my lapel and stood up from the couch. I shook hands with the host of the talk show and slowly made my way to the back of the studio while waving at the audience who were still cheering.
