Page 80 of King
I arched a brow and smiled. “Oh, really? What am I thinking right this minute?”
Dante paused mid-shuffle and eyed me closely, then grinned as he handed the deck of cards off to Saint.
“Deal us out, brother. We’re outta here,”
Every man at the table laughed as I flushed to the roots of my hair.
“That wasNOTwhat I was thinking, Dante Morgan,” I protested loudly as he took my hand and practically pulled me out of my chair.
“That’s OK, sugar. I’m thinking about it enough for both of us.” He hustled me up the stairs to his room, urging me to walk faster with his hands on my ass. The sound of laughter and catcalls followed us, until I was sure I’d die of embarrassment.
An hour or so later, I was surprised I hadn’t died of pleasure instead.
The next two weeks passed in a haze of romantic dates, incredible sex, and a party at the clubhouse that was eye-opening to say the least.
I’d learned that Trick liked to have sex with the hangarounds in darkened hallways, rather than taking them up to his room at the club, as it was apparently easier to get rid of them afterward. I’d also learned that Trick’s ass was so white compared to the rest of his tanned skin that it practically glowed in the dark in said darkened hallways. It was still a very nice ass, even if it was a little on the pale side.
I’d also learned how to play darts, courtesy of Viking and Pop. I wasn’t very good at it, but Bull said I was a hell of a lot better than Molly was. She’d apparently almost hit him with a wayward dart on one of her first visits to the clubhouse.
I’d spent time with the Ol’ Ladies in the club. Theresa, Brick’s wife, was a tiny dynamo who took absolutely no shit from anyone, especially her hulking husband, who clearly adored every last curly hair on her head.
Abby and Molly had told me about the upside to MC life - the sense of family, the club rides, and the community outreach. I’d had lunch with Michelle, who was close to my age and in the same position I was. We weren’t Ol’ Ladies, but we were seriously dating club officers, so that put us in a unique position. I hesitated to refer to myself as Dante’s girlfriend. First of all, at my age it felt a little awkward. Secondly, Dante and I had never actually used that label. We were together, and he called me his woman sometimes, but we hadn’t defined it beyond that.
I knew I was falling in love with him, but I had no idea how he felt. Since our relationship was so new, it felt like I’d be pushing too hard if I pressed him for answers, so I didn’t. Part of me was scared of those answers anyway.
He’d even spent time with my kids without me asking, volunteering to give Mia a driving lesson one night when I’d had to work late to deal with a client who wanted a last-minute change on their logo design.
They’d driven Hunter’s Jeep, and Dante had noticed that the transmission wasn’t shifting smoothly. My heart sank when he’d told me, because I knew Clayton would refuse to help contribute to the repair costs. I knew that because he’d also refused to contribute to buying the Jeep in the first place. That’s why Hunter was driving a used, eleven-year-old Jeep withmore miles on it than I would have liked. Dante had been livid when I’d told him all of that, grumbling about what a “lousy motherfucker”Clayton was.
I’d been dreading a huge mechanic’s repair bill, but Dante took Hunter to the club’s garage and with Viking’s help, they diagnosed the problem and repaired it. It had turned out to be a fairly easy fix, thankfully, but Dante had argued with me when I’d tried to at least pay for the parts. Hunter had stepped up and told him that he wanted to pay for the parts with money he’d earned helping Mrs. Kirschbaum, our elderly neighbor across the street, with her yardwork.
Dante had given in then, telling me he respected that Hunter was stepping up and taking on adult responsibilities. He’d also turned right around and given the money back to me, telling me to add it to Hunter’s college fund. I’d finally given in and done just that when it became clear that Dante wouldn’t be swayed.
Mia had tagged along with them to the garage that day, and Dante had given her an impromptu lesson in basic auto care, including changing a tire and checking various fluid levels.
“If she’s going to be driving soon, she needs to know these things, sugar. We need to be sure she’s safe when she’s out on the road, just in case she can’t reach one of us,” he’d told me later that evening as we snuggled up on the couch.
Every minute I spent with Dante convinced me that he was the man I was meant to find. He was the man I would have chosen as my childrens’ father, if I could have rewritten history. He was the man I wanted to grow old with.
The only dark spot, aside from my ex, was Dante’s ex, Christy. She’d shown up at Pop’s place one evening, only to spot Dante’s bike in my driveway. He and I had been takingadvantage of a precious bit of alone time, as Hunter had driven Mia over to her friend’s house and stopped off at the park to play basketball with his friends on his way home.
We were wrapped up in each other’s arms on the couch making out like teenagers after the prom, when there was a sudden pounding on my front door. I’d almost fallen off of Dante’s lap at the sound, and he had quickly jumped up and reached for his cut. My eyes widened as he slipped a knife out of the inside pocket and pressed a switch to flip it open.
He’d stormed over the door and peered out the peephole, only to step back and start cursing.
“It’s safe, sugar. It’s just my fucking bitch of an ex-wife. I’ll get rid of her.”
He’d flicked the blade closed and shoved it in his back pocket, then unlocked the door and threw it open. The argument that took place on my front porch started off loud and ugly, especially when she caught sight of me through the living room window.
She pointed at me and started to say something, but Dante cut her off in mid-screech.
“Get the hell off this property, and don’t even fuckin’ think about coming back here, or to Sinner’s house. Stay away from my house, stay away from the compound and stay the fuck away from our boys. I swear to God, Christy, if I see your face again, I’m gonna call that probation officer of yours and report that you’re using again. He’ll violate your probation, and you’ll end up serving the rest of your sentence.”
She started to cry then, scratching and picking at the skin on her arm until I expected it to start bleeding any second. She was extremely thin, unhealthily so, with sallow skin and brittle hair. It was clear she was in the throes of addiction, and whilepart of me felt sorry for her, the other part of me remembered that this is the woman who’d abandoned her children and had made their lives miserable ever since.
“You have thirty seconds to get your ass back in that shitbucket of a car and get the fuck out of here.” He’d started counting, and she ran for the car, jumping into the passenger seat as the driver gunned the engine. They roared out of Sinner’s driveway with seven seconds to spare.
Finally, the day I’d been both dreading and waiting for was here.
I dreaded the fact that my kids were leaving for Florida this morning. I was worried about them flying alone, and I knew I would miss them terribly. But I also knew that my former in-laws would take wonderful care of them, and that they would all have a great time on the cruise they were embarking on tomorrow morning.
I also felt guilty, because as much as I loved my kids, I was excited as hell about having an extended period of time alone with Dante. Camille and I were leaving tomorrow to spend the weekend in Chicago with Kim to celebrate her birthday, but once I returned Sunday night, I planned to spend every single night wrapped up in Dante’s arms until my kids returned.
We would have almost two weeks together when we weren’t limited to Sunday afternoons and Wednesday nights. We wouldn’t be limited to stolen moments when the kids were out with friends, or when Dante and I met at the clubhouse for “lunch” in his room there. I was thankful that he understood that I wasn’t ready for him to stay overnight when my kids were at home, but I knew we were both frustrated with the situation at times.
It hadn’t helped that Clayton and Sabrina had left for Hawaii yesterday, meaning he hadn’t taken the kids for his normal Wednesday overnight visit. I’d gotten used to having my own overnight visitor on those nights, and I’d missed Dante like hell when I’d woken up alone this morning.
So now, as I drove home after dropping the kids off at the airport, I made plans for tonight. Plans that started with one of the sexy bra and panty sets I’d bought a few days ago and ended with orgasms. Toe-curling, mind-blowing, soul-restoring orgasms. I couldn’t wait.
