Page 29 of His Loyal Rebel

Rubbing his thumb against the rubber sole, he eyed her ass as she made her way down each rung. Once her feet hit the floor, she pulled down the hem of her shorts and marched toward him.

Grabbing the shoe from him, she glared. "I want my car keys."

She'd asked three times since the Tarkio members had left. For days before that, she simply held out her hand, assuming he knew what she was asking for without having to speak to him—which he refused to give her.

He took in her heaving breasts. His cock throbbed, gaining interesting he'd fought hard to ignore.

She thrust her upturned hand toward him again, trying to get him to change his mind. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her onto his lap. Wrapping his arms around her before she could push away, he held her tightly against him.

She struggled, squirming on his lap. He ignored her temper.

"Please. I want to leave." The plea hissed through her clenched teeth.

"You know I can't do that." He kissed the side of her head. "Big is dangerous."

"To other people." She pushed against him, groaning in frustration when he wouldn't let her go. "He's not going to hurt me. He just wants me back. You can...you can hide from him, but let me go."

"You don't believe that."

"I do."

"You know better."

"No, I don't."

She wanted to trust that Big was the same way he was when she liked him. He got that. But he knew, better than her, how men like Big lived. The motorcycle club came first. People got hurt. People died.

Even those they loved.

Shaking off the similarities in himself, he pressed his lips against her head. "You can't trust Cusclan."

"I wasn't in a relationship with Cusclan Motorcycle Club. I had a short relationship with Big, for how messed up it was between us. It wasn't a close relationship." She sighed. "We hung out a few times, and then I made the stupid mistake of moving in with him because my rent would be cheaper. It made sense at the time. You know, women shouldn't have to answer why they choose to have relationships. It's the nineties, not the fifties."

"It doesn't matter. You were involved with Big, and that makes you involved with Cusclan." His chest warmed when she no longer fought to get away from him.

"He's not someone who finishes anything he starts. He's probably already given up on his revenge against you and found some other woman to mess around with. He's a hot head and jealous, but that makes him incredibly stupid. I only wished I knew that a month ago." She raised her head and looked at him. "Live and learn. That's why I think if you just let me leave, you can go back to whatever it is you do."

He raised his hand and stroked her cheek. "Did he treat you bad?"

"If being a jerk and ignoring me when I was living in the same house counts as bad, then yeah." She shrugged. "But, hurt me? Nobody can hurt me."

He brought her down to his chest and closed his eyes, holding her. He'd thought the same about himself his whole life, but he'd been wrong.

He'd been hurt.

He'd lived through shit that he never imagined.

"You're wrong," he murmured. "No matter how hard you try and protect yourself, people can hurt you."

She shook her head against him. "Not if everything inside of me is already broken."

He held her tighter. She softened, slipping her arms around him. He wanted to be the man who chipped away her hard exterior and showed her the heart inside of her beat strong and hard.