Chapter 22

~Roxana~

 

“Is that burning?” I ask, peering over Neil’s shoulder at the stir-fry he’s cooking.

He throws his hand out, pushing me back gently. “Backseat cook,” he mutters. “It’s all good, babe.”

“Well, what can I do?”

“Lay the table. After what went down earlier, ain’t comfortable with you doing much else.”

“Hey! That green pepper was wet and slippery. It wasn’t my fault.”

He turns from the frying pan and grabs my right hand. He traces his fingers over the Band-Aid wrapped around my index finger. “You almost took this off, babe. Yeah, staying back is best.” He releases me and turns back to his cooking. And then he scoffs, “Can’t believe you dunno how to cook.”

“Cuz I’m a woman?” I ask, hearing the edge in my voice as I say the words.

He tenses, obviously sensing the fight in my tone. “Ain’t what I meant,” he says over his shoulder.

“I’m not housewife material, Neil.”

“Yeah. Already got that, babe.”

“Is that a problem?” I ask, leaning against the worktop beside him.

He shrugs.

What the hell does that mean? “Neil?”

He blows out a breath and eyes me. “Look, I do wanna settle down one day. But who’s to say what that really means? A bunch of the boys got the traditional set up. Woman’s at home. Got their dinner on the table, clothes cleaned, housework done and shit. Seems kinda boring to me, though.” He smiles at me. “I want more spark. Fire. A spunky bitch who don’t take my shit. A woman who gets my dick hard standing up to me, challenging me. That’s what I’m into. Never known a woman to come close to that ‘til you, babe.”

The raw honesty in his words, the way he just laid it out like that, shocks me. Wow. I thought he was gonna tell me that he didn’t know what he wants. I figured he was a one-day-at-a-time guy. But, no, he’s thought about all this stuff. Oh shit. I wasn’t prepared for this. I haven’t thought about any of it.

“Um…cool,” I manage to respond, realizing he’s expecting me to, when he keeps staring at me.

He laughs and turns back to his cooking.

“What?”

“Loosen up, babe. Stop thinking so much. Just let things happen as they happen. Stop tryin’ to control everything. Ain’t nothing to worry ‘bout. I already told you, I ain’t here to clip your wings. And, by the way, your I run free statement up at the clubhouse?”

“Yeah?”

“Those are the words of a goddamn biker if I ever heard ‘em. So, yeah, I get where you’re coming from. That’s my mission statement too.”

“Speaking of biker missions statements,” I say, folding my arms across my chest. “I wanna talk about that whole claiming bullshit you pulled up at the clubhouse.”

He eyes me over his shoulder. “Yeah?”

“I don’t like it. You don’t own me. I’m not property.”

He growls, switches off the burner and slams down the spatula in his hand and stalks over to me. His expression is fierce, his eyes blazing, his jaw ticking menacingly.

He grips my shoulders and shoves me into the fridge.

He traces his finger over my lips. “These are mine.” He squeezes each of my boobs in turn. “These are also mine.” His hand slips between my legs and cups my pussy through my thin robe. “And this sure as shit is mine, woman.”

I break his hold on me and push him back. “Caveman,” I mutter. “I knew it. You’re all the same,” I say, walking away.

“Get back here!”

I stop and turn. “Why?”

“Cuz I’m tryin’ to explain shit to you! So, shut the fuck up for once and just listen, cuz you obviously dunno shit ‘bout men! Probably cuz you spent your life hiding and closing yourself off to any guy who gets near you.”

“You haven’t known me long enough to make that kind of judgment, Neil!” How dare he?

He approaches me and says, “Ain’t ‘bout time. It’s ‘bout seeing what’s right in front of me. And I see you, Rox. I fucking see you, babe.”

I shake my head.

“Yeah, I do. We’re the same. Been through the same shit. Had the people we love ripped from our lives. Had to bow down to assholes holding power over us. I’m still fucking doing it with Trig. And you’re tryin’ to fight it happening to you all over again, cuz of all this shit with the Mavs. I ain’t blind. I see it. I see you struggling, fighting.”

“I…” Crap, I’ve got nothing. He’s stumped me. Why? Because he’s right on the money.

He takes my hands in his and his eyes lock intensely with mine. “You think me saying you’re mine is ‘bout something it ain’t. Don’t think you’re my property. But you’re my woman. And yeah, I’m gonna do shit like protecting you when you need it like I did last night, like I did with Grit getting in your face. And I don’t care if you don’t like it. Ain’t ‘bout control, Rox. We save that for the bedroom, which I know you like. No, it’s cuz I fucking care ‘bout you and I can’t stomach the idea of something happening to you, of you not being ‘round with me every second of the fucking day. I wanna touch you, look at you, hold you, have you in my bed. Cuz I want you. I’m fucking addicted to you. I can’t get enough of you.” He lets go of my hands and steps back. “So, that’s what it means when I say you’re mine.”

“I don’t want to be tamed, Neil.”

He scoffs. “If I wanted that, I’d take one of the club whores as my Old Lady.”

Oh my God. This thing between us is escalating too quickly. I step back and turn away. “This is getting too intense, Neil. You and me. Shit.”

“Stop running, Rox!”

I shake my head, walking away. “I can’t.”

“Well, you’re gonna have to, cuz I fucking love you, woman!”

I stop in my tracks.

Before I can get a word out, he’s right in front of me. “Show me, Rox. Show me how you really feel.”

His lips crash down on mine.

My body betrays me and I moan into his mouth as his talented tongue tangles with mine. I sink into the kiss and reach up and tug on his hair, needing him closer. He cups my ass and lifts me and I wrap my legs around him. A moment later, he rips my robe open and I feel the tip of his dick at my entrance.

I gasp as he sinks into me suddenly.

He tugs gently on my hair, pulling my lips from his. “Look at me,” he urges me as he starts to pump his dick in and out of me in a slow, easy rhythm, making me feel every delicious stroke as his thick length stretches my walls.

I do look at him and it’s incredibly intense. Overwhelming. He strokes my cheek with his free hand and presses soft kisses all over my face, my neck, my shoulders.

It’s really intimate. Raw and honest. There’s no hiding. It makes me feel completely exposed to him. I can’t get out of this one. It overwhelms me, all my emotions that I always hold at bay rushing to the surface in one unstoppable wave.

Tears fill my eyes. I move to wipe them away, but Neil grips my hand.

“It’s okay,” he says softly. “Stop hiding from me.”

He holds me against his chest as he continues to thrust in and out of me. I feel his fingers slide down between my pussy lips all of a sudden. I cry out into his chest as my orgasm hits. I hear him grunt a moment later as he finds his release. He sinks down onto one of the breakfast bar stools with me in his arms. He doesn’t say anything. He just holds me close.

“I do care about you, Neil,” I whisper, breathlessly.

He kisses my hair. “I know, beautiful girl. Just needed you to know it.”