Page 86 of The Devil's Reward
“What do you want to know?” I ask her, rolling on my side, propping my head on my hand to look at her.
She mirrors my pose and smiles at me, face relaxed. The sheet around her slips down to reveal one plump breast, and my gaze immediately drops to it. My cock twitches, but I think he’s reached his limit for a while because other than the low burning of desire in my gut, it doesn’t move. Quinn glances down, rolls her eyes at me, and then hikes up the sheet to cover herself. “Perv,” she teases.
“When it comes to you, you bet your fine ass I am, gorgeous,” I leer. “But you’ve worn me out, so I’m going to need a bit more time before we try for round four.”
“No,” she says firmly. “I’ll be walking funny tomorrow as is, and one more round will render me immobile.”
“Did I hurt you?” I ask with a frown.
She gives me ayeah-rightlook. “I think we’ve already established that I love everything you’ve done to me, but it’s been almost six years since my last sexual encounter, so I think it only makes sense to take it easy now that the edge is off.”
I smirk at her. “I suppose you’re right. Now, what do you want to know about the club?”
She shrugs. “Whatever you want to tell me. I know some things from TV, like how ‘club business’ means women can’t know stuff, but other than that, I don’t know much else.”
“TV and movies always show outlaw clubs, but we’re not one of those,” I explain. “We’re a club, yes, and we operate our businesses through the club, but we don’t do illegal shit. No drugs, no guns, no human trafficking, nothing. A long time ago, the old President did run that shit, but Bullet and Hammer got tired of it and took the club legit.”
“Wow, really?” she asks, eyes widening at the information. “I don’t think I’ve met Hammer.”
I shake my head. “You will eventually,” I say with a slight smile. “Raven calls him an edgy Santa Claus. Think Santa meets ZZ Top; that’s Hammer. He and Bullet worked hard to get the club legit, but that was thirty-plus years ago. Now, we’ve built it to include multiple businesses, and we do a lot of charity work as well. We don’t need to do anything illegal.”Not that we won’t do what needs to be done to protect ourselves and our women,but I don’t say that out loud.
“Are there a lot of members?”
“There are eighteen fully patched members, including myself, and we currently have six Prospects now that Crypt has joined. The only ones with Old Ladies though are Bullet, King, and Torque.”
“What does Old Lady mean again?”
“In our world, it’s basically a wife without the ring or paper” I say. Then I take a moment, I need to word this right because I fully intend for her to become mine someday soon. Not yet, because she’s not ready, but it’s going to happen. “Bullet and Rose are married, and other clubs have members that are the same, but some don’t like the idea of a piece of paper binding them for eternity. Especially if down the road, things don’t work out.”
“So it’s like marriage, just not legal?” she asks curiously.
I nod. “An Old Lady has the protection of the club, and so do their children. Biological or otherwise. If something happened to Rose or Bullet, someone would have stepped up to take care of the boys. The title also lets other clubs know that the woman is taken and is to be afforded the respect of a partner.”
“And you’ve never had one of those?” she asks, then flushes. “I’m sorry, that’s personal,” she hastens to add.
“No, I don’t have an Old Lady and never have,” I tell her. “That shit’s serious, and you don’t make that kind of claim unless you mean it. If I take an Old Lady, it’s going to be forever. There won’t be anyone else for either of us.”
“Oh,” she says, eyes searching mine.
I give her a soft smile. “I want you for my Old Lady, Quinn, just so there’s no confusion.” Her mouth drops open in shock at my declaration. “But we’re not there yet,” I add quickly. “I know we’ve only started seeing each other, and you’re not ready for a big step for a while. But I meant what I said earlier, you’re it for me. We’ll take the time we need, and when you’re ready, I’ll ask you.”
She closes her mouth and swallows hard. Then she sits up and pulls the sheet up over her chest as she looks at me. “You’re saying a lot of things that women want to hear, Shadow,” she says hesitantly. “I know we’ve slept together, but I think we need to be careful. I don’t want Macy getting hurt. I’m one thing, but I don’t want her thinking that men can’t be trusted to do anything but leave.”
“Quinn, you’re going to realize very soon that when I want something, I go after it with everything I have. And that includes you. I’m going to prove it to you.”
She huffs out a breath. “But, we could be incompatible,” she argues. I can sense her trying to rebuild those walls, but I’m not about to let her. Not when I can prove to her that we belong together. “You might talk with food in your mouth, or leave the toilet seat up so many times that I want to strangle you. Or, maybe your club won’t like me. Hell, you might not get along with my family, and I think that would be a deal breaker. Or maybe you spend too much money on stupid stuff and we’ll fight about it all the time.”
“Quinn,” I say firmly, sitting up and pinning her with a serious expression. “All those things can be worked out. All it takes is some compromise and communication. Both of which I’m good at. Well, except for safety. I’ll never compromise on the safety of you or Macy. That’s something we’re going to have to deal with if it comes to that, but everything else, I don’t care about. I don’t talk with my mouth full, I’ll promise to put the toilet seat down, and I think we’ve already established your family likes me. Not to mention, you’ve already met Rose and the girls, and I’ve put up with their shit for years, so I can handle anything your family throws at me.
“I’m asking you to give us a chance. If you have a problem, talk to me. We can fight about it, and then work through it and find a way to meet in the middle. I’ve seen Rose and Bullet do it the entire time I’ve known them, and that’s what I want. Rose drives Bullet crazy, but that woman is fiercely in love with him. If she knows something is important, she’ll move heaven and earth to help him make it happen. And he does the same for her. I don’t have a lot of experience with relationships, but I know I’ll do anything to make sure that you’re happy.”
“What about Macy?” she asks quietly, watching me. “Macy always has to come first, and I know that not all men like that. She’s a very busy child, so if you’re looking to come home after work to a beer and be able to kick back, watch the game and be left alone, that’s not going to happen. Not unless she’s sick, and even then, she’s pretty demanding and needy. It’s not always the good times, it’s the bad ones.”
“I think after play time earlier, you know she’s got me wrapped around her finger already,” I point out with a roll of my eyes. Her lips quirk in amusement. “Quinn, Macy should always come first for you. She’s your daughter, and though she isn’t mine by blood, that doesn’t mean I’ll view her as anything less when we get to the point that I’m a permanent fixture. I want to be here for all of it. Happy, sad, mad, sick, screaming tantrums, all of it. I have never been afraid of hard work, Quinn, and I’ll show you that.”
She doesn’t say anything, just searches my face with her eyes. I’m silent, waiting patiently. Her mind is working, and I can see she’s trying to find more questions, but not coming up with anything that she can use to push me away. Finally, she sighs. “I’m sorry for being so nervous about this, Shadow,” she tells me quietly. “I just have to be careful.”
I nod, understanding. “I get it, Quinn. I really do. We’ll take things as slow or fast as you need.”
