Dark Destiny by Avelyn Paige

Delilah

Rhett’s handgrips mine tightly as we walk out of the courtroom, surrounded by half a dozen giant men in leather.

Leaning in so only he can hear me, I tell him, “Freedom looks good on you.”

He gives my hand a gentle squeeze. “You look better.”

We reach the bottom of the courthouse steps, and Rhett turns to face his buddies. “As much as I love you fuckers, I’ll be doing my celebrating tonight with my Flower Child.”

“You done doing dumbass shit?” the one with glasses asks him.

“Nope,” he replies with a grin.

The man laughs and flips him off. “Good to have your moody ass back, brother.”

Another man with an artfully arranged messy bun leans toward me and whispers, “You ever get tired of this big bastard, you come talk to me. I’ll take care of you.”

Rhett tugs me closer. “Fuck right off with that shit, TwatKnot, or I’ll relocate that hair of yours directly into your rectum.” Placing a kiss on my forehead, he warns, “Ignore that one.”

“No woman can resist me,” man bun jokes.

“Any woman with half a brain can,” Judge quips, approaching us with Rhett’s attorney at his side. She’s so small next to him, but her confidence is bigger than him. Maybe it’s the power suit, or the resting bitch face. All I know is that she had worked her magic in that courtroom. Rhett was fortunate to have her in his corner.

“I’d tell you all to stay out of trouble, but I’m doing some renovations on my house, so do your worst,” she teases.

Judge reaches out to shake her hand. “Thank you. And tell your old man I said ‘hello.’”

Smiling, she simply nods before turning and heading straight down the steps to a black town car parked at the curb. The driver, an older man, shuts the door behind her and returns to the driver’s side before disappearing and pulling out into traffic.

Interesting.

“Do you guys do this often?” I’m genuinely curious.

“That’s classified,” the one with the glasses remarks, with the others getting a good chuckle out of it.

Rhett squeezes my hand harder. “If you assholes will excuse me, I would like to spend some time with my girl.”

With a gentle tug, Rhett leads me away, and I turn back to give the others a quick wave.

“Wear a condom!” someone shouts.

Rhett shakes his head in clear annoyance, grumbling about assholes and murder weapons.

“Are they always like that?”

“This is mild for them. Just wait until we go to the clubhouse. They were on their best behavior here, but that shit goes out the window in our own place.”

He stops at the edge of the street. Cars zip and zoom down the busy downtown road, but a break in the traffic finally comes so we can cross.

“Where’s your car?” he asks when we reach the parking lot across from the courthouse.

I point straight at it, expecting him to keep walking, but instead, he stops dead in his tracks.

“The fuck is that thing?”

“That would be my car.”

“That’s a wind-up toy.”

I frown. “No, it’s a Prius, and his name is Barney.”

“You named it?” Rhett barks out a laugh and shakes his head. “I’m not going to fit in that thing, name or no name.”

Releasing his hand, I dig out my keys and press the button to unlock the doors. “It’s roomy inside.” I open the passenger side door and point. “See?”

Rhett stares at me with unbridled skepticism, then leans down to peer inside. “Jesus,” he mutters. “No videos of this shit.”

He has to lower himself until he’s practically on his knees to be able to pull his feet in. I stifle my grin as he contorts his body just enough to get his ass in the seat, but his knees are pressed into his chest. Reaching down between his legs, he finds the seat adjuster and manages to slide it back a few inches.

“You fit!” I declare.

Rhett glares up at me, and I can’t hold back my laughter for another second. It hits me in gales of hilarity that cleanse my heart from all the crap we’ve been through since meeting one another. And even as I try to get myself under some sort of control, I look at him and see him folded up inside my little car, and it starts all over again.

“Just get in the car,” he grumbles.

Walking around the back side, I let out a long, slow breath. It almost works too. For a second, I’m able to stop laughing. But then I pop open the door and slide into the driver’s seat, noticing Rhett’s enormous arm taking up half of it.

Another round of laughter washes over me, and this time, Rhett’s laughing too.

“Is your place as small as this car?” he asks once we’ve settled down.

“Possibly,” I tease.

“Let’s Three Bears that shit and see if my Goldilocks ass fits in your bed.”

“Awfully presumptuous of you to think that I’m going to invite you into my bed. I thought closets were your thing.”

“As long as I get between those thick thighs of yours, Flower Child, it doesn’t fucking matter where we are.”

I flush. “Do you want to get something to eat first?”

“The only thing I need to eat is you, three times a day.”

I gasp, my heart racing. “I, uh, guess we’ll go to my place, then.”

Putting the car in drive, we head off toward the highway. I merge into the traffic and head west toward the rescue. We ride in silence for a bit, but my mind keeps rolling through so many questions that I want to ask him about himself, the club, and how they can afford such a high-end attorney for his misdemeanor case. What exactly does his club do to have that kind of money?

“Can I ask you something about your club?”

“Depends on the question.”

I mull over how to phrase what I want to ask him. “What do y’all do exactly? Like, do you go on charity rides or do bake sales?”

“Bake sales?” he snorts. “We’re a brotherhood. We ride together and take care of business.”

“That’s a little vague.”

He tries to shift in his seat to look at me, but he can’t. “It’s hard to explain to someone who hasn’t lived our lifestyle.”

“You’re not going to scare me away.”

He quietly considers that statement before speaking. “We aren’t saints, Delilah. We’ve done some shit that most people wouldn’t be able to accept, but we do it because we have to protect innocent people.”

What he was planning to do to Chad, and his club’s president’s assurances about Buddy, click into place. They’re the devils who do the devil’s work. The necessary evils that protect us all.

“The club is always going to be a part of my life, but I need to know if that’s something you can handle. There’s going to be shit that I’m not going to be able to tell you, and you have to be okay with that.”

“It’s hard to wrap my head around the entire club thing,” I admit hesitantly. “But they were there for you and for me. As long as you tell me what you can, I can handle it. I mean, I didn’t grow up squeaky clean, either. Just wait until you meet my parents.”

“Want me to meet the parents already?”

“It’s only fair. I’ve met your family.”

“Agreed. I think you’ll like my club. You haven’t even met the other old ladies yet. They’ll love you.”

“Old ladies?”

“It’s what we call the women with our patched members. You’ll get used to all that.”

I laugh. “I may need a reference guide.”

The rescue comes into view, and I turn onto the street that runs next to the building. Using the alleyway in the back, I pull up to my van behind the building.

He gapes out the window in shock. “You live in a fucking hippie van?”

“Mm-hmm,” I say, proud of my cute little home. “It’s got everything I could ever need.” I climb out of the car and stand back, watching as Rhett carefully extracts himself from Barney.

I move to the back of the van and pop open the doors. My bed is made in the back, along with everything else I own. “Besides, it’s just me here. What more could I need?”

Wide-eyed, Rhett takes it all in. “Is that a cat? And where’s that bird's feathers?”

I point to the cage underneath the platform of my bed.

“Bunnies?” he asks, incredulous now.

“They were alone.” I step inside, bending low to avoid hitting my head, and sit on the bed. “Now they have me.”

Rhett’s eyes burn with something that makes my belly do somersaults as I smile over at him. He watches me for a moment, not saying a word. Heat floods my cheeks as I feel the intensity rolling off of him in waves.

“What about me?” he asks after a few quiet moments.

I don’t even recognize my own raspy voice when I say, “What about you?”

He puts his foot up, ready to climb inside with me. “Do I have you?”

I sink my teeth into my lower lip. “Yes.”

“Do you want me?” He climbs onto the bed beside me, his face just inches from mine. His warm breath fans across my skin, sending the ripples in my belly into overdrive.

I hold his gaze, knowing this moment is pivotal for us, and place my hand on his cheek. “I want all of you.”

His mouth covers mine as I finish those words, and this time is so much different from the last. This time, it’s like two halves of a whole coming together. The meeting of two souls that have been separated for an eternity.

The first time we’d made love, it had been fast and hurried, filled with excitement at the prospect of being caught. But now we’re in a bed. We have time to explore each other, and I can’t wait to explore this beautiful man.

Reaching down, I grab his shirt and yank it up and over his head. His body hovers over mine, and I stare at the intricate tattoos that cover nearly every inch of his smooth skin.

“You’ll have to tell me the stories behind of all of these,” I murmur, kissing across his chest, my tongue dragging across his nipple as my fingernails glide gently down his back.

Groaning, he flops back on the bed, grabs my hips, and spins me so I’m sitting on top of him. “Not right now.” Reaching up, he whips off my shirt.

“You’re fucking beautiful, you know that?” he acknowledges, staring heatedly up at me.

Suddenly, I feel a little shy in just my jeans and bra, but he shuts me down fast. “Oh, no you don’t. I want you to look in my eyes right fucking now.”

My cheeks flare.

“Look at me,” he coaxes.

Feeling like a total ass, I lift my eyes, looking at him from underneath my lashes.

“Now, repeat after me.” His fingers trail up my arms until they reach my bra straps. “I.” He slips the straps off of my shoulders, and a shiver races down my spine, hitting me right in my lower belly. “Say it, Flower Child.”

Holding his stare, I do as I’m told. “I.”

Bra straps now resting against my arms, Rhett traces his finger across my chest and down into the cup of my bra. When he grazes my nipple, I moan.

“Am.” Tugging down on the cup, he exposes my breast to the cool evening air.

My pulse thrums beneath his touch. “Am.”

Freeing my other breast, he continues. “The most beautiful woman.”

The bed dips as he sits up, his lips just a whisper away from my breast. When he blows a steady stream of warm air across my nipple, I squirm, my need for him growing nearly out of control. “Say it, baby,” he breathes.

I stare down at his lips just hovering there, willing him to take my breast into his mouth and touch me again. “Am the most beautiful woman.”

Fucking hell, my center is aching now. I need him so badly.

“Rhett has ever seen.” He finishes his sentence by flattening his tongue and dragging it across my sensitive bud before flicking wildly at it.

Gasping, I grind down against him, feeling his excitement through his jeans. “Rhett,” I moan.

His teeth clamp down over my nipple. Holding it between his teeth, he asserts, “Say it, baby.”

Hands on my thighs, my nipple still in his mouth, he thrusts his hips and grinds his erection against my center, pressing me down onto him until I fear I may explode. “Rhett has ever seen,” I finish, barely able to breathe anymore.

His fingers drop to the button of my pants as he releases my breast. “Get your fucking pants off, Flower Child.”

Doing exactly as I’m told, I roll to the side, pull my jeans off, and toss them away, with Rhett following suit. Hearing the crinkle of a condom wrapper, I turn in time to see him unravel the shiny disk of latex down over his impressive length.

Without a word, we both know what the other needs. Swinging my leg over top of him, I slide down slowly, taking him inside until I can’t take any more.

He hisses as he stares down at where we’re joined. “Fuckin’ made for me,” he mutters, rolling his hips, forcing himself deeper and dragging my clit over the well-manscaped patch of hair beneath it.

I’m not exactly a sex kitten, and I’ve not had a ton of partners, but I can tell you that when you’re on the verge of orgasm, just from a man putting his beautiful cock inside you, you’ve got yourself a keeper.

And I’m going to keep him forever, if he’ll let me.

That thought sets me off, and that’s when I take over. Rhett’s thumb hits my clit at just the perfect angle, and I move and roll and pump my hips, feeling every inch of him hit the most amazing places as I do it.

“Jesus Christ,” he gasps, but I’m already gone.

Rainbows and fireworks explode inside of me, the colors fluttering with tiny tingles of pleasure. I keep moving, knowing that he’s right there with me.

Rhett’s fingers dig into my hips and he holds me tight, preventing me from moving, but I can’t stop. It feels too fucking good.

I keep rocking, despite his protests, and our bodies quake in unison until neither one of us can move.

I drop down beside him and lay back on the mattress. His hand snakes out and grabs onto mine, pulling it to his chest to place it over his heart, which is racing out of control.

Chests heaving as we try to catch our breath, Rhett leans over and presses a kiss to my forehead. “A man could get used to this every day.”

“Trust me,” I say with a smile. “So could a woman.”

He grows silent then, his eyes seeming distant.

“What are you thinking about?”

He shifts to pull me tight against him, and my body curves alongside his as I snuggle into him.

“How glad I am to be out, and how much I’m going to miss Penny. And how amazing you are, of course.”

Kissing me again, he runs a finger across my lower lip before leaning back on the bed and drifting off to sleep. I lean into him and smile when a new rule pops into my head.

Rule Six. Everyone deserves to know real love.