Page 11 of Riding Free

Much later.

Like, after a few orgasms later. But then Thea begins to cry in her seat, and it snaps me out of my delicious thoughts and brings me back down to reality.

Hound doesn’t move.

He keeps me pinned to the car, his dark-blue eyes focused on me and only me—as if I’m the only person on the planet. But I’m not, because one of the most important people in the whole world is crying in the back seat of my car.

“I need to check on her,” I whisper.

Hound doesn’t say anything. He takes a step backward, allowing me space. I open the back door and bend down to look at Thea in her car seat. Reaching down, I place my hand in the middle of her chest.

“Sshhh,” I whisper.

Straightening, I turn around to tell Hound that I need to take her home, but he’s gone. “Get in, babe.”

Hound is sitting in the front seat of my car like he’s the owner. I open my mouth to tell him to fuck right off. But he smirks up at me, then winks, and my entire body melts into a puddle of goo.

I’m done for—gone for him.

He closes the driver’s door, and I’m stuck standing, staring at him, unmoving mainly because I don’t know what the hell to do. If I get in the passenger seat, I’m agreeing to wherever he’s going to take me… in my own freaking car.

If I don’t, I doubt he’s going to get out just because I ask him to. And then I hear someone laugh behind me, and I’m brought back to the reality that there is a whole party happening. I hear the music and the chatter, the laughter that disappeared when Hound was close to me. It’s back now, and I know that if I made a scene right now, it would draw their attention, and I’m not sure I want their attention any more than I’ve already had it.

Walking around the back of the car, I open the door and sink down into the passenger seat. Sucking in a breath, I close the door, then look over to him. He’s watching me, his lips twitching into a smirk.

“Where we goin’, babe? Don’t know where you live.”

I almost burst out laughing. But I don’t. Curving my lips into a smile, I search his gaze with my own. “I live with my parents, Hound.”

His eyes widen before he looks into the back seat, then shifts his focus back to meet mine. “I got a place, but it’s a dump.”

I begin to respond to him, though I’m not sure what I’m going to say. Not sure if I have anything to add, really. I probably should be going back to my parents’ house.

“We’ll go to my place.”

His words are an announcement. A declaration. I don’t have anything to add to that. In fact, I have to press my legs together just thinking about being alone with him again… near a bed.

CHAPTER

EIGHT

HOUND

Pulling into my driveway, I wince at the sight of the state of the place. I bought a little two-bed, one-bath bungalow with an attached garage. When Wrath decided to get a place to live outside the clubhouse, and then Dare did, too, I thought, why the hell not?

Loot hooked me up with this little place. Figured I should invest in something in my life at least while the money is flowing. And it has been lately, so it was a good investment, and hopefully, I’ll have it paid off before the club goes through another dry spell.

“It’s a shithole,” I explain again.

I can’t even use the garage. It’s full of shit stacked up. I’d like to renovate the place, but I just haven’t had the time or given much of a shit to actually spend it. I figure I’d work on things when the club slows down, or maybe even when I retire.

“That’s okay,” Keely murmurs.

I get out then walk over to the back door and tug it open as well. The baby is asleep in the carrier. I unbuckle it, but I don’t know how to shift the handle to straight, so I just pick it up with one hand at the top and one at the bottom.

It’s as light as a feather. I figured this would be really heavy, but it’s not. Maybe because the baby is so small—I’m not sure—but I thought it would be heavier. I move toward the front door, but Keely hurries to my side.

“Here,” she murmurs.