Page 8 of Carver

My back would be aching something fierce in the morning, but that didn’t matter to me. What mattered was that she was comfortable. That she felt safe.

I’d endureanythingto give her what she needed.

And fuck if that thought wasn’t terrifying.

7

Carver

Isipped at my coffee as Blink took his seat at the head of the table. He cleared his throat and looked at me. “Brian is coming to meet Jennifer.”

The fuck?

I clenched my jaw. “Why?” I demanded. “The fuck does he need to meet her for? If he’s been doing business with the fucking Lockheart MC, then shouldn’t he know who she is by now?” I didn’t want anyone that wasn’t family around Jennifer. She’d been through enough. What if Brian betrayed us and told the Lockheart MC where she was?

Blink shook his head. “According to him, only club girls were present when he was there. If she was there, she was kept under lock and key.”

I gritted my teeth. “Still doesn’t answer why he wants to meet her, Blink. You don’t think this is a set-up? It’s fucking weird, brother.”

Blink shook his head. “Brian’s not like that. I asked him for his help. Because when the Lockheart MC finds out she’s here, Derrick is going to bring hell down upon us. And we need more numbers than what we have now. We need back-up and allies, Carver.”

I clenched my jaw. Carter gripped my shoulder, squeezing hard enough to force me to bring my temper back under control. “Rein it in, brother,” he murmured. “IfBrian tries something stupid, we’ve all got your back when it comes to protecting her. Right?” he asked, looking pointedly at Blink, who ultimately called the shots.

Blink inclined his head to me. “You have my word, brother.”

I relaxed a little. If Blink was giving his word to protect her, I knew he would. Which meant he also wouldn’t bring around anyone he thought might bring her harm.

“Okay,” I muttered, giving in. “We’ll do it your way.”

Jennifer frowned at me. “You want me to… meet someone who does business with my dad?” Her voice trembled near the end of her question, trepidation flickering in her pretty blue eyes. I hated the fear lingering there. I wouldneverlet anything happen to her.

I sighed. “Idon’t want you to,” I admitted. She frowned. “But your fatherwilleventually find out where you are—” She made a small squeak full of fear, so I drew her to me, holding her in my arms, “—so Blink wants to get Brian on our side. This way, if we need help, he’ll come through. There’s only four of us, princess. Your father’s club has—what?”

She blew out a soft breath. “Ten patched members and two prospects,” she said quietly.

That was a much higher number than what we had; that was for sure.

I pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “We won’t let anything happen to you,” I promised her. And that was a promise I intended to carry to my grave. Gripping her chin, I tilted her head back, forcing her eyes to lock on mine. They were filled with nerves, those blue depths unable to hide a thing from me.

She was so open. A breath of fresh air amongst the monsters I’d been surrounding myself with since I joined the military at eighteen.

“Do you trust me?” I asked her.

She ran her eyes over my face before slowly nodding. Her fingers curled into the edges of my open cut, a shaky breath falling from her lips. “Yeah,” she said softly. “I… I do.”

I tried to ignore the way her soft admission filled me with warmth, but it was damn near impossible to do. I’d done nothing really to earn her trust, yet she was giving it so freely.

“Then trust me to take care of you, princess,” I urged. “The moment I snatched you up from that alley was the last time anyone but me ever touched you.”

Her pupils blew wide, lust smothering the fear that’d been buried in them. With a groan—unable to fucking help myself—I lowered my lips to hers, kissing her with a hunger I’d never felt before. Touching other women, kissing and fucking other women, had always been a means to an end. To just get off.

But with her, I found I wanted to take my time. To learn what made her gasp. What made her moan. What made her fuckingwhimper. Where did she like to be touched? How did she like to be handled?

Fuck, this woman was deep under my skin.

She softly moaned, pressing her body against mine as I licked at her bottom lip. When she granted me access to her sweet mouth, I growled low in my throat, my left hand clamping around her hip to hold her body so tightly against mine, I couldn’t tell where I ended and she began. My right hand slid into her soft curls, the strands falling through my fingers like silk. Gripping a handful, I tilted her head just slightly to the side so I could devour her properly.

A knock sounded on my door, and with a snarl, I reluctantly pulled my lips from Jennifer’s, glaring at my apartment door as if it’d personally offended me. “What?” I barked.