Chains by Kristine Allen

“Say  You  Won’t  Let  Go”—James  Arthur

“You’re going to wear a hole in my damn floor, Jazzy,” my brother said as he sipped his coffee and read something on his phone.

“Don’t even talk to me. I’m still mad at you for last night. You said you wouldn’t hurt him.”

“Hell, that was nothing. He was lucky that was all I did. And I said I wouldn’t kill him. I never said I wouldn’t blacken his eye.” He gave a careless shrug, and I growled in frustration.

I’d slept like shit last night. No matter how many times I woke up, I fell back into the same dream on repeat. It was the same one I had occasionally over the years, but it was insane. It was of the wolf that watched me from the shadows. We were in the middle of freaking Iowa—there were no wolves here. So the odds of me encountering a wolf in the wild were less than slim.

“It was still fucked-up. He’s your friend—your ‘brother.’” I made air quotes.

My brother’s expression went hard. “Yeah, he is. Which is why he should’ve known what he was doing was wrong. What he did is against the club’s code. The thing is? You’re right, he is my friend, and I would’ve thought he’d at least have the nuts to come talk to me. Ask if it was okay. Tell me he wanted to be with my sister in more than a one-night way. Something. Anything but hiding it like you were his dirty little secret. That’s what pissed me off more than anything.”

A stabbing ache hit me in the chest like a shot. I sucked in a ragged breath because it was difficult and blew it out hard. “Jude. That wasn’t his fault. He wanted to talk to you. He repeatedly said he wanted to tell you. But I wouldn’t let him. If anyone was in the wrong, it was me. I shamelessly used him because I trusted him not to hurt me. And he let me,” I said with a pleading gaze. I wanted my brother to understand it wasn’t Nico’s fault.

“Jasmine, I understand what you’re saying, but regardless, as a man and a brother, he fucked up. We settled it. Drop it.” Rarely, did my brother use such an authoritative tone with me. It wasn’t harsh, but it was firm and brooked no argument.

“So you’re good with him now?” I clarified as my hand rested protectively on my baby bump. His eyes softened. It was important that my brother and Nico be okay if he and I were going to make this insane relationship successful.

“I said it was settled, didn’t I?”

“Just like that?” I asked, disbelieving.

“You want me to kick his ass again?”

“Hell no!”

“Well, that’s good to know,” the voice that I’d both missed and dreaded hearing for the last four months said from behind me. Butterflies let loose in my belly, and my heart damn near exploded as his deep tone poured through me like warm honey. Korrie must’ve let him in as she went upstairs with Angeline.

Slowly, I turned to face him and captured my lower lip in my teeth. God, the man was sexy. Tall, dark, and handsome barely covered it. Add in those tattoos that told a million stories, the dark hair that flopped over his forehead, and his mesmerizing eyes the color of the richest chocolate, and his beauty was damn near deadly. Muscles rippled with each movement, and damn did he fill out those jeans perfectly.

And he was mine.

“Hey,” I said softly and way too breathlessly as his mouth kicked up on one side. Yeah, he’d caught me drooling. The shiner my brother had given him didn’t detract from his good looks one bit, but it did make me want to smack my brother upside his head.

“You ready?” he asked. I nodded. Then he looked a little nervous as he cast a glance to my brother before locking on me. “Do you mind if we take your cage? I only have my bike, and I don’t really want to risk it with you. I’ll have to get a cage of my own soon,” he said as his gaze dropped to where my hand still rested over the curve of my stomach.

“Look at you, already getting domestic and shit,” my asshole brother said.

To my surprise, Nico flipped him off with a chuckle. Angel stood, and for a second I held my breath. I needn’t have worried. They embraced, then my brother slipped on his cut that matched Nico’s. Did it make me disloyal to my big brother that I thought Nico looked better in his? I grinned at the thought.

“What?” my brother asked as he caught my smile.

“Nothing,” I said, my smile spreading wider.

He hugged me tightly. “God, sis, it’s good to see you smile.”

Pressing my nose into the soft leather of his cut, I nodded. “It feels good to smile,” I agreed.

For a few moments, we quietly held each other and remembered simpler times. Then he stepped back and gave me a peck on the cheek.

“Take care of my sister,” he demanded of Nico as he passed him. He gave him a squeeze on the shoulder and went upstairs to say goodbye to Korrie and his daughter.

Looping my arms around Nico’s neck, I kissed his chin playfully.

“Are you sure you want me to go with to your therapy appointment?” Nico asked as we heard my brother’s bike start, then the roar of his motor fading down the road.

After a deep breath, I nodded. “Yes, I am. I’d like you to meet Helen, and she wants to meet you.”

We weren’t going to have couples therapy, per se, but she did want to meet him and talk with us for a few minutes before I had my session. She and I had discussed it, and I wanted him to know what I’d been working on, the progress I’d made, and how he could help if I needed him to.

He stepped closer, and I backed up until he caged me in against the counter. “Then we’re going to talk. Okay?”

“Yes. Talk.” I literally had to repeat what he’d said because with him that close, my brain was scrambled.

He leaned in and trailed the tip of his nose along my jaw. The two piercings tickled, and I shivered. “Cold?” he asked, causing his breath to warm my neck.

“Uh-uh,” I breathed out, nearly trembling at his proximity to my body. After everything I’d been through, I still wanted this man more than my next breath.

“Let’s go,” he whispered in my ear and placed a kiss on my temple.

He stood to his full height, which sent my senses into overdrive again and took my hand in his gloved one.

“What are we going to tell her about your gloves?” I asked with a thoughtful crinkle in my brow.

He shrugged, then grinned. “We’ll say I have a skin condition and leave it at that.”

“Okay.”

Korrie still hadn’t come downstairs, so I assumed she was napping with Angeline. Since Trace was in school, I set the alarm on the door as we left. He caught my hand and held it as we walked to my car.

“So what kind of vehicle are you gonna get? Jeep like Voodoo? Truck like my brother? Or are you more into muscle cars like Ghost?” I asked as he backed my car out of the driveway. He caught my eye as he shifted into drive.

“I was kinda thinking about a Range Rover or a BMW SUV,” he said.

“Huh,” I said in surprise. “I figured you’d want something cool.”

“What’s not cool about a Rover or a Beemer?” he asked as he turned the corner out of my brother’s neighborhood.

Wide-eyed, I stared at him. “Those are like, umm… family trucksters,” I said with my face screwed up in a scowl.

His laugh made me want to swoon. Then he glanced at my pregnant belly with an arched brow, and I did.

My counseling appointment went better than I thought. Nico was extremely supportive, and Helen approved.

Nico took me for a late lunch, then we went back to his room at the clubhouse. Since I’d let my apartment lease run out after my place had been ransacked thanks to my father, I didn’t have a place. Neither did he. That would be one thing I needed to figure out, because I couldn’t keep staying with my brother forever.

“I’m going to have to get a place soon,” I said as I sat on the edge of his bed. He grabbed the chair from the desk and spun it around to straddle it. Resting his arms on the back, he propped his chin on his forearm and thoughtfully gazed at me.

“Me too,” he said. “Can’t have my kid here when I spend time with him.”

“Or her,” I added with a smirk, though his words sent a little pang through my heart. Did he not see us together later? I shoved my worries down for another day.

His eyes went wide. “Don’t do that to me. Please don’t do that to me.”

My laugh was instantaneous and boisterous. “You’re hilarious. You do understand that it’s your sperm that determines whether it a boy or a girl, right?”

“Well, in that case, it’s a boy. My sperm are badasses, and they wouldn’t dare give me a girl.” He seemed so certain and serious that I fell over onto the bed laughing.

Next thing I knew, he was sweeping my feet off the floor and depositing me in the center of the bed. As I continued to laugh, he crawled up and nestled his hips against mine. He kept his weight off me on his elbows.

“You think that’s funny, do you?” he asked with a mischievous tilt of his lips. When he rubbed his beard on my neck and chest, I continued to giggle with an occasional snort. Breathless, I gasped as my laughter died down, but my smile remained.

“That was some of the funniest shit I’ve heard in a long while,” I said, still grinning as I raised my hand to his cheek. The soft skin of his lower lip teased the pad of my thumb as I skimmed across it. Before I could pull it away, he playfully captured it in his teeth and flicked his tongue over the end.

He released me as he glanced down to the baby sandwiched between us. “This isn’t hurting you, is it?”

I shook my head, and we both sobered as we stared in each other’s eyes.

“I think you took what I said the wrong way,” he murmured.

“What are you talking about?”

“When I mentioned needing a place, I saw the look in your eyes.” He sighed. “It’s not like I don’t love the idea of coming home to you and my kid every night, but I didn’t want you to feel like I was pressuring you to live with me. If you need to be independent and have your own place, I don’t want to make you feel like I’m taking away your choices. I understand your need for control in your life right now.”

“Thank you,” I said, appreciating his thoughtfulness.

“Don’t thank me too much. In any other circumstances, I’d be telling you that you’re packing your shit and you and I are getting a place together because you’re my fucking woman.”

My heart thumped, and wetness pooled between my legs. Any other man that said that, I would’ve shot in the balls, but coming from Nico it was different.

“Am I?”

“What?”

“Your woman,” I whispered.

His dark eyes burned into mine. “You have been since the night I took your virginity; I was just too scared and stupid to see it.”

“But I’ve been with other—”

His hand stopped my words as he pressed it against my lips. “Please don’t mention other men when I’m between your legs. You understand?”

My eyes widened at the feel of his hard length as he pressed it to my heated core, and I nodded.

“Good. This is what I propose.”

My heart stuttered at the word “propose.”

“We’ll each get our own places. For the rest of the pregnancy, we date—yeah, I know it sounds corny. No pressure, no expectations other than really getting to know each other. Then if we decide this is something we want long-term, we let one of our places go and move in together. Yeah?” He waited as I digested what he said.

“Okay,” I finally agreed.

A beautiful grin lit up his face, but then it dimmed. “There’s one more thing.”

“Why don’t I like the sound of that?” I warily asked.

“I think I have a way for me to be able to touch you,” he whispered with a furrowed brow.

“Then why don’t you look happy or excited?”

“Because it’s an odd solution, or fix, or whatever you want to call it,” he said, then closed his eyes for a moment before staring deep into mine. “I’m not sure if I believe it will work, but I want to look into it more once we decide where this relationship is going.”

“You’re being extremely cryptic,” I said with a wary squint. Despite my concerned curiosity, I trailed my fingertips over his face, as if memorizing every inch.

“I don’t know whether to tell you now before we get more attached than we are and risk scaring you away or wait until I have you as addicted to me as I am you, first.”

Despite the gravity of the conversation, the corners of my lips lifted and I bit my lip coyly. “You’re addicted to me?”

“Baby, I already told you, if it was up to me and I didn’t care what you thought, I’d tell you we’re getting a place together because you’re my woman. Period.”

“Tell me how you really feel,” I breathlessly replied.

“I want to protect you, worship you, and support your every need. But I also want to consume you, devour you, brand you with my mark, and own you body and soul.”

Holy fucking shit.

“Was that honest enough for you? Because I don’t care about who came after me, you were mine first. Everything will be right with the world as long as no man touches what’s mine again.” He punctuated his declaration with a slow, sensual thrust of his jean-clad cock against my needy core. I whimpered as my hips rose of their own volition to grind against him.

“I think I like the sound of that,” I whispered in his ear.

With a growl, he rose to his knees and quickly divested me of my clothing. His gaze heated as he took in every change. Self-conscious, I tried to cover my breasts that had grown larger and reached for him.

“No,” he said as he followed my curves, old and new, with the butter-soft leather of his gloves. Gently, he removed my arm from my chest. He sucked in a sharp breath before dropping his head to circle my already puckered nipple. A whimper escaped me as he moved to the other as he plucked at the first with his fingers.

“I need you, Nico,” I begged.

Completely ignoring my request, he proceeded to slowly lick my most sensitive areas, ending with possessive nip of the tender flesh. He paused briefly to tenderly kiss the curve of my abdomen, but that wasn’t what this was about, so he moved on. When he spread my thighs, his heated breath hit my core, and I clutched his hair tightly.

“Mmm, is this what my baby wanted?” he murmured between carnal kisses to my pussy. By the time he gave a swipe of his tongue through my wet slit and around my throbbing clit, I was writhing in desperation.

“Nico! Please!”

“Not until you come on my tongue. I need to taste you, Jasmine. Let me lick every drop of your honey,” he said before he immediately went back to work. The man had mad skills with that mouth. My addled brain wondered if he was writing the alphabet or the words to his favorite song interspersed with thrusts into my core. Frankly, I didn’t care what he was doing as long as he kept doing it.

It was heavenly. So much so that the second he sucked on my oversensitive clit, I detonated. Back arching off the bed, fingers tangled in his midnight-black hair, I screamed as I exploded all over his tongue. Then he worked every last spasm from my achingly empty sheath.

As I lay there gasping, I shamelessly begged him again. “Please, Nico, I need you inside me. Please.”

One last swipe of his tongue sent a shudder through me before he climbed off the bed with a satisfied grin. Gaze hooded, I watched him slowly undress for me. Each section of inked skin he revealed literally had me salivating. He was a work of art, and I didn’t mean only the tattoos. Every chiseled inch appeared carved by Michelangelo himself.

A thud signaled his boots getting kicked off. The clink of his buckle was followed by the sound of his zipper before his jeans hit the floor. Thick and long, his cock bobbed as he kicked off his socks.

As he towered above me, I dropped a hand between my legs and watched him stroking himself. When he reached the end, he gave his wrist a slight twist and shiny precum dripped from the tip. The sloppy wet sound of my fingers slipping through the arousal that drenched me had his breath hitching.

“I’m not wearing a condom. I haven’t been with anyone but you since I left four months ago. I’m clean, and you’re already pregnant. I want to feel your tight, wet cunt sliding over my cock—gripping it because it was made for me.”

It wasn’t a question, but I nodded. “Yes, please.”

He gave me a wolfish smirk as he released his length and prowled up the bed to settle back between my legs. Those strong, inked hands lifted my calves and bent my knees as he spread my legs open. He gripped my wrist and removed my fingers from where they stroked my G-spot. Then he licked them clean, causing me to damn near orgasm again at the sight.

“Fuck, that’s a pretty pussy,” he said as he released my hand and let his shaft slide through the center of my soaked core. Then he gripped his length and slapped my clit with it a few times, making me whimper. My hips rose, intent on guiding him inside.

Finally, when I thought I would go insane with want, he lined himself up and drove as deep as he could go.

“God, yesss,” I groaned as he withdrew and pushed in again. When he was fully seated, a tingle spread through me, and my eyes rolled. “So good,” I drew out as I greedily clenched around him.

The feel of his smooth velvety skin against my pussy was incredible. Who would’ve thought a condom changed the feel of sex that much? But hell if it didn’t. The heat of his cock burned against my walls, and every sensation was magnified.

Pushing my knees up and out, he changed the angle, and I damn near died from the overload of the way he stretched me with the hot silk-encased steel rod that he stroked in and out. The room was quiet but for our panting breath, the wet sound of skin against skin, and the slight squeak of the bed.

He released my legs to lean forward, and his lips captured mine as his hips continued to thrust. Relentless, he kept a steady pace as the pressure of my pending orgasm continued to build until I shattered once again.

As the bliss cleared from my haze, I gripped his corded arms. Staring into the dark depths of his dark chocolate eyes, I demanded, “Fuck me.”

Instead of complying, he withdrew, and I whimpered. But before I could voice a complaint, he flipped me to my hands and knees and rammed his thick cock in to the hilt. A surprised squeak escaped me when he did it again.

“Can you handle it rough?” he asked as he paused.

I grunted in dissatisfaction at his stillness and heard him chuckle. “I’m fine,” I said through clenched teeth. “Do it!”

“Oh baby…” he crooned. “I’m going to fuck you through the goddamn mattress. When I’m done with you, there won’t be a single question as to whose pussy this is, because I’m gonna mark my territory all over you.” He accentuated his promise with a smack to my ass that had my core clenching tightly around his cock. For a brief second, I saw the worry in his gaze as he wondered if he’d done something to trigger me.

What he didn’t understand was that he was the only one I wanted. With him I was safe, cherished, and protected. If there was one thing I had worked out in therapy, it was that the horrifying memories had no place in our bed. I trusted him.

“Goddamn it, Nico, if you don’t stop talking and fuck me….”

“Your wish is my command,” he whispered.

That time when he did as I asked, I reveled in the give and take of our bodies. I didn’t focus on the way he made me forget what had happened. I could only concentrate on how perfectly we fit together.

By the time he filled me with his hot cum, I was a rag doll collapsed in bliss.

And I knew I’d never be able to let him go again.