Smoke and Steel (Wild West MC #2)(59)

He was a man coming hard, and he didn’t care if every neighbor I had knew it.

I loved that sound so much, I felt every muscle between my legs contract tightly listening to it, feeling it, and he grunted again, gripped my ass hard, and growled, “Yeah, baby.”

He took me through his orgasm and he took me while we both came down.

Then he slid out, gently rolled me to my back and lowered his weight to me.

With the back of his fingers, he pulled the hair out of my face.

“All right?” he asked.

“Yes,” I puffed out.

In a hazy way, I saw him grin.

“You’re a goddamn knockout lay.”

“I aim to please.”

“Your pussy does shit I’ve never felt in my life. It fuckin’ rocks.”

“My pussy thanks you for the compliment.”

His body shook with laughter, he touched his mouth to mine, slid his lips to my ear and said, “Back in a sec.”

He rolled off me, yanked the covers from under me and twitched them over me.

I turned to my side and curled up, watching the bathroom doorway so I didn’t miss him returning.

He came to the side of the bed this time, lifted the covers and slid in beside me.

He tangled our legs and held me in his arms.

“I’m glad you came over,” I said.

“I didn’t miss that,” he teased.

I shoved my face in his throat and smiled.

“Gonna see to Nanook in a sec and shut the house down. You ready to sleep?”

I couldn’t move, so it wasn’t like I was ready, it was that I wasn’t good for anything else.

Still, sleep was necessary to any living being, and he’d been up super early.

So I said, “Yes.”

“Right,” he muttered, kissed the top of my head and slid out of bed again.

It wasn’t long before he came back, and I not only got him, but heard Nanook’s doggie groan as he settled in on the floor on Core’s side.

“I love that sound,” I told him, cuddling into him front to front.

“What sound?”

“A dog settling in close.”

He tightened his arms around me, and for some reason, he did this super strong.

It took him a second to relax.

When I felt him settle in, I mumbled, “’Night, Mr. Cutler.”

His body shook again with soft laughter before he replied, “’Night, Moynihan.”

I pressed closer and not long later, I fell asleep.





15





A LIFE INCOMPLETE





Hellen





The next evening, I knocked on Core’s door.

There was a woof from inside, a second one, a few moments passed, then he opened it.

His eyes slid over me, he grinned big, hooked me with an arm around my waist and bent me over it, laying a huge wet one on me while Nanook brushed against our legs excitedly.

I was a big fan of his hello.

When he allowed me to surface, he didn’t let me go as he said, “You just kick ass being you.”

Okay.

Wow.

That might have been the best compliment anyone ever gave me.

No.

It just was.

And again, indication I’d chosen well with my outfit.

Casual dinner at his house, I’d picked another pair of crop jeans, these with a ragged hem. I added a cute, floral, blousy cami top that dipped in the front and gave a hint of cleavage. On my feet were flat, gold sandals that showed a lot of skin, seeing as they were mostly thin straps, including ones that wrapped around my ankle.

I’d gone for loose curls in my hair and light, summery makeup.

I also brought my big Fendi tote because extra panties were not all I needed. I needed my toothbrush, face wash and moisturizer, some PJs—because we’d been sleeping nude, but that wasn’t normally my thing—a selection of makeup in case we decided to get brunch tomorrow, and a different top to wear.

“Say hi to my dog before he loses it,” he ordered, letting me go, but instantly taking hold of the guitar strap to my Fendi and sliding it down my arm.

He walked in.

I bent to Nanook, who was indeed very excited to see me, and gave pets as we followed him in.

“This stuff for the bedroom?” he asked after the tote.

“Yes,” I answered.

He disappeared down a hall.

I kept petting Nanook as I looked around.

There wasn’t much there. Big TV. Three-piece furniture set in a contemporary design and neutral color (gray) that was so basic, it veritably screamed for toss pillows and throw blankets. And tables dotted around that made it look like he bought the arrangement from a showroom floor and that was that.

It was much the same as what I’d seen of his kitchen, which looked new and sleek with gray cabinets, white quartz countertops and clear, light-gray glass subway tile backsplashes.

But outside a steak left out on the counter and some jars of seasonings sitting around it, there was nothing there and it was clear this house had been flipped, or he’d done a complete overhaul of it (at least the parts I’d seen), but he hadn’t really done anything to make it his.

He might be so busy with his club, their marijuana concerns and his vigilante activities that he hadn’t gotten down to buying a blender and some art for his walls.