Chapter 26: The Devil’s Reward: Chapter 25

I’m so pissed that it’s taking everything in me not to lose my shit right now. The things Quinn has been subjected to are atrocious. Between her ex and the military, I’m shocked she’s not a complete wreck. That she’s still as gentle and good as she is. I’ve known men who would crumble under that kind of pressure and scrutiny.

That kind of betrayal.

I probably overstepped when I picked her up and put her on my lap, but there was no way I couldn’t hold her as she told me her story. Hearing the pain and sadness in her voice. She was trying to sound so brave and strong, but then I saw the tears and that was the end of it. Every protective instinct inside me rose hard and fast, and I didn’t question it. She hasn’t slapped me in the face so I’ll take that as a sign that she’s okay with this. For now, anyway.

Now she’s doubting that we should go out tomorrow. After what she’s told me, no way am I going to cancel. She’s had far too many people let her down, especially men, and that’s stopping now. And I’m not letting Macy be affected either, if I can help it. I’ll never tell her what a scumbag her father was, but she may figure it out on her own when she’s older.

I wondered before if asking her out was a bad idea, if I was just fooling myself, but seeing her now, I know I made the right choice.

“Not a chance, gorgeous,” I tell her firmly, letting my hand slide up her spine to rest lightly on the back of her neck so she can’t look away. Her eyes are widen with shock at my declaration. “I’m not your ex, and I like you exactly the way you are. I think you’re sexy as hell, a strong woman who’s been through far more than most, and you have a kickass daughter that’s going to keep you on your toes as she gets older. I want to know everything I can about you. What makes you tick, what makes you laugh and smile, and how you manage to keep that little firecracker of yours out of jail.”

“Even after all of that?” she whispers, like she still can’t comprehend it.

“Even after all that,” I confirm. “Did you think it would send me running?”

She gives a small shrug. “Most men would…”

“I’m not most men, gorgeous. I was Special Forces, remember? I can handle anything you throw at me.” I brush my fingers subtly against the back of her neck and bite back a smug smile when she gives a small shiver in reaction. Her sitting in my lap has my dick taking notice, but he’s going to have to get a hold of himself because he’s not in charge.

She gives me a small smile. “I forgot about that. Why did you leave?” I tense slightly, and she loses her smile. “I’m sorry,” she rushes out. “That was rude. Forget I asked. You don’t have to tell me.”

Don’t I? She just told me all about her tragic past, so it’s not like I can keep mine to myself. The question is, do I tell her about Sam? I know I’m not ready for that discussion, so instead, I say, “I lost my team in combat about eight years ago.”

The sadness in her eyes is immediate, but there’s no pity. I’m not sure I could handle it if she pitied me. “I’m sorry,” she murmurs. “I can’t imagine how awful that must have been for you. You were the only one left?” she asks carefully.

I nod, the motion stiff. “We were given bad intel, and my team lost their lives. I carried on because I had to, but when I got back to camp, I was done. I was hurt, and I lost my team. They tried to convince me to stay, offered me a desk job instead, but there was no way I was going to face another day in the Forces without my team.”

“Is that why you asked me about that woman? Samantha?” she asks softly.

I go rigid. Hearing her name coming from Quinn’s lips is almost too much. “Yes,” I say stiffly. “She was my teammate.”

“And I remind you of her?” Quinn asks doubtfully.

That question is a bomb waiting to explode. How do you tell the woman you’re interested in that she looks like your dead teammate? The one you were finally supposed to hook up with when it all went to hell?

“You do,” I say simply. “I thought maybe with your connections you might have known her or known of her,” I tell her. Not a complete lie. It could have been possible. “But knowing your story now, I know it’s not possible because this happened before everything with your ex.”

She’s silent for a moment. “I guess we’ve both been through a lot,” she murmurs. “Sometimes I don’t know how we survive it.”

“Because something gets us through,” I murmur after a moment, holding her gaze. “I live to honor the dead, and you live to prove him wrong. Memories drive us, and that means that we won’t let sacrifices go to waste. Yours for what you’ve done to right your husband’s wrongs, and me to honor the lives of my team.”

She is silent, but I can see that my words have hit their mark. Something shifts in her eyes and her entire body straightens, like they’ve lifted her up. She’s not a shy mouse anymore, there’s something underneath taking notice. I feel an answering burn in my chest, but I can only focus on the way her eyes hold mine, how her skin feels under my hand.

We stare at each other for a long moment, and I can feel the heat and tension building. She still looks a bit shy, but not like before. I can feel the heat from her body, the weight of her on my lap, and the softness of her skin under my hand. My gaze moves over her face, taking in the fullness of her lips, and wondering if they taste as good as I imagine. The tip of her tongue pokes out and she nervously wets her lower lip. I have to bite back a groan.

“Quinn,” I warn her softly. “If you don’t want me to kiss you, don’t do that.”

Her eyes widen further at my words. I fully expect her to try and pull away. Heat builds along her neck, and she swallows hard. I see the question in her eyes before she gets the nerve up to ask it. My cock jerks and I bite back a growl. She is pure temptation and I want to give in and take it all.

“W-What if I want you to kiss me?” she whispers so quietly I’m not sure I hear her right. I stare at her for a moment, and I can feel the tension and nerves radiating from her. “Of course, if you don’t want to, that’s okay too,” she quickly hurries on. “I mean, I didn’t ask you to come over here for that and—”

“Quinn,” I interrupt. She immediately stops and I cup my hand around the back of her neck again, pulling her forward so I can press my mouth to hers. She lets out a small squeak of surprise, but then she sinks into my body, her arms slowly going back around my neck to shift herself as I deepen the kiss.

It’s a quiet, simmering passion. Not the explosion I expected. No, this is so much better. It’s an exploration, slow, deep, and sensual, without the desperation that normally comes with passion. But it’s there, simmering under the surface, waiting to be ignited.

Her lips are soft on mine, and without moving my mouth from hers, I adjust her on my lap so she’s straddling me, my hands on her hips, holding her against me, letting her feel what she’s doing to me. My cock is hard as a rock, and I’ve never had this happen before. Not from a kiss that could be considered relatively tame.

Tame until my tongue strokes along her lip, and she opens for me, kicking my desire up to eleven. She moans softly and her tongue tentatively comes out to tease mine. I give a soft groan and deepen the kiss further, my grip on her hips tightening, making her sigh and lean forward, her center at the perfect angle to press against the bulge behind my zipper.

Her shyness dissolves, and the longer we kiss, the more comfortable she gets. One of her hands moves up into my hair, fingers sifting through it as she arches into me, and the kiss amps up even more.

It’s like a switch has been flipped and I don’t hesitate to meet her demands when she moans and rubs herself against me. I groan, nipping and sucking on her lips and tongue, grinding into her as our breathing becomes harsh, the passion growing.

Fuck, she’s perfect. And I need to stop this before it gets out of hand. I’d love nothing more than to lay her back on the table, strip her down, spread her wide, and taste every inch of her, but that’s not going to happen tonight. She’s not ready for that, and if I’m being honest, I’m not either.

Slowly, I pull my mouth away, ease the grip of my hands on her hips as I look at her. Her eyes slowly blink open, and I see glazed arousal in their green depths. Satisfaction surges in me, even as the arousal starts to recede and reality starts to set in. Her eyes widen and she quickly drops her hands from my hair and pulls her arms from around my neck. “Did, uh, did that just happen?” she murmurs.

I’m not sure if she meant to ask me that, but I can’t help the smile that pulls at my lips. “A fucking amazing dream if it didn’t,” I tease.

Her face flames. “I have never done that,” she tells me. “I, uh, I’m not that forward.”

“I like that you are with me,” I assure her. I can see that her mind is working, and she’s working herself up to bolt from my lap so I tighten my grip and quickly add, “Don’t regret this, Quinn. I don’t. I planned on kissing you at some point, this just happened a bit quicker than I expected.”

“I haven’t kissed anyone since Bobby,” she mutters.

I’m filled with the purely male satisfaction of being her first in a long time. Damn right, and I’m going to make sure I do a hell of a lot more. “I don’t plan on that being the last kiss between us, Quinn,” I tell her gently. She doesn’t say anything, just looks at me, but then finally, slowly, nods. I lean forward, testing my luck, and press another quick kiss on her mouth. She doesn’t push me away so I take that as a good sign, and when I pull away, her lips pull up in a small smile. “See?” I murmur.

She gives a soft laugh. “Yeah, I do. Do I give you a rating now?” she teases, making me smile at her. “I’d give you a solid eight out of ten.”

I bark out a laugh. An eight my ass. Still, I drawl, “Then I guess I better make sure to wow you next time. I can’t abide anything less than an eleven, gorgeous. The Council will never allow it.”

She snickers. “The Council? They check to make sure your kissing abilities are perfect, huh?”

I wink at her, glad that she’s feeling at ease enough to joke with me. “They’re a strict organization, but I like to think it’s for the greater good,” I tease.

She leans back, pulling away from me, and I help her off my lap to her feet. “You’re a funny guy, Shadow,” she tells me as I stand, barely holding back a wince at the tightness in my jeans. She glances down, eyes going wide, and her face flushes a bright pink before she quickly looks away and then around the room. I feel like I should make a joke about it, but she might not be quite ready for that. She’s relaxed enough that I want to keep it that way.

“I try to be,” I say casually. “I need to head out, gorgeous. You’re okay being here by yourself?”

She nods quickly. “Yes, thank you. I’m sure the police will catch whoever it was that broke in down the street.”

I doubt it, not with the kinds of cops we have around here, but I don’t say that to her. Instead, I nod and tell her, “If you have a problem, call me, alright?”

She gives me a small smile. “Are you going to come riding in on your white horse to save me if I do?” she teases.

I chuckle. “My horse is all chrome and I’m no knight, gorgeous, but yes, I’ll come if you need me. If not, I’ll see you and Macy tomorrow at five, alright? And then we’ll schedule a time to install the security system.”

“Okay,” she says, smiling up at me. “Thank you, Shadow.”

I lean down and kiss her one more time, because I need to. I pull away and turn to head out the door. I don’t look back, because if I do, I know I won’t leave, and I have to. I need to get to the clubhouse and talk to Bullet, so for now, I need to put my desire aside and get my head back in the game.

I straddle my bike, check my phone and see a message from Viper.

Then I put my phone away, glance one more time at the house, where I see Quinn peeking out the window, and give a quick wave before I fire up my bike, back out of her driveway, and head off down the street.

When I finally reach the compound, Crypt is manning the gate and I nod at him before I pull through and head up to the clubhouse. No surprise, there’s a party going on. Music and laughter echo outside when I turn off my bike. I climb off and nod at Dagger, Twigs, and Titan where they’re drinking beers and talking on the porch.

“Finally decided to join the party, huh?” Dagger jokes.

“Had to go and visit your mom first,” I smirk.

They all laugh, including Dagger. “Hope you wrapped it, then. Never know who she’s had in her bed,” he tosses back good naturedly.

I don’t bother answering, just head inside. Good-natured ribbing between brothers. It’s been missing the last week, but it’s slowly coming back. It doesn’t mean we won’t find our mole, but there’s a chance our club won’t fall apart after we do. I nod when a few people call out to me and then head up the stairs towards Bullet’s office. When I reach it, I see Viper is already inside, and I lock the door behind me.

“We’re clean,” Viper assures me when I look at him questioningly. Meaning he’s swept for more bugs and found nothing.

“Viper’s filled me in on the details of what you found,” Bullet says, eyes hard and his jaw set. “I vaguely remember that place, but I had no idea about the hidden spot underneath.”

“It’s possible Dmitri and his men only put that in recently,” I point out.

Viper shakes his head. “That place looked and felt old. I think it was there even back then, but maybe not as fancy with the vault. That looked like it was upgraded. The door anyway. The inside had some carpet lingering, and it wasn’t new.”

I hadn’t noticed that, but that would make sense. I look at Bullet. “I think you were right that there are more out there.”

“And it makes sense why none of us have been able to find them,” Viper adds. “From what you and Hammer said in Church, no one knew the locations except Bull, which means that we wouldn’t have any clue where they would have been.”

Bullet is quiet for a moment. “Then how did they find them?” he asks softly.

“Our mole probably,” I answer.

He looks at me, his expression grim. “Then how would our mole know? The only people that were around when Bull was alive are Hammer and me. And we know it’s not me.”

“You think our mole could be Hammer?” Viper asks quietly, frowning.

Bullet leans back in his chair. “The only other person who could know would be Hammer, but with the number of things going on, it doesn’t make sense to me. Hammer isn’t in the best of health, and for him to do the kinds of things that have been going on around here, not to mention trying to kill Izzy, I can’t see it. No way in hell could he climb a building and get through a window.”

“He could have someone helping him,” I say thoughtfully.

Bullet’s jaw flexes. “It’s possible. I need to talk to him.”

“You want one of us to be here when you do?” Viper asks him.

Bullet shakes his head. “I’ll do it. If it’s Hammer, then I need to finish what I started. No matter the cost.”

Viper and I exchange a look. Neither of us wants to think that Hammer is involved, but what else is there to go on? The question is, if it is him, will Bullet be able to exact the punishment that’s needed on his oldest friend?