Shield My Heart (Heaven Hill Book 9) (19 page)

Dalton hated to be talked about like he wasn’t in the room, but he knew he deserved it. He would work hard, he would show them he was ready, and he wouldn’t stop until they realized and accepted it.

“Alright.” Liam looked at the two of them. “I’m leavin’ Tyler here to be with everybody. Jagger and I are going to get the money, and then we’ll come back and set up the drop. I want you both staying here until we figure out if there’s a threat or not.”

A memory hit Dalton hard. “I went to see my dad the other day. He mentioned some people are saying Heaven Hill’s weak since everyone became domesticated. I definitely think we need to take extra precautions. If someone wants to try and show force, now would be the perfect time.”

Liam cursed. “Fuckin’ hell.” That was a whole different set of issues he hadn’t been planning on. But life had never been easy for any of them. If anything, the foundation of the whole club was built on the hard times all of them had experienced. “Alright, I’ll let the guys know, and I want you all to sit tight until Jagger and I get back.”

Mandy grabbed Liam in a hug. “Please be careful, Grandpa.”

A word had never caused him to lose his breath the way this one did. Not even the word
dad
. He pulled her into another hug and promised himself he’d make this right for everyone involved.

‡
Chapter Twenty-Five

“Y
ou okay staying in here with me?” Dalton asked as he and Mandy made it to his dorm.

When she was safely inside, he turned the lock on the door, leaving the two of them alone, with no one from the outside world able to get in. More than anything, he wanted this time alone with her. He’d fucking missed her, and he needed to feel her wrapped in his arms as soon as possible. Tension he’d had for weeks was slowly starting to melt away.

“Regardless of what’s happened with us,” she snaked her arms around his neck, “there’s no other place I feel safer than with you.”

He swallowed hard, letting those words sink in. Slowly he circled his own arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him. Almost bashful, he turned his head to the side and slowly moved in for a kiss.

Mandy felt her heart beating fast in her chest as she realized what he was going to do. It felt like it had been a hundred years since they’d kissed one another like this, and she hadn’t realized how much she missed it. Digging the pads of her fingers into the skin on his neck, she held him to her. A part of her was scared he’d run, another part was scared she’d run. Neither one of them had a great track record lately.

His lips were hesitant against hers. He was unsure of how she would react. If she wanted this as much as he did. He knew he had no right to stake a claim on her, not after what he’d put her through, but he needed to feel close to her, needed to have a connection he hadn’t felt in so long. The last time they’d done this, it had been for many of the wrong reasons. It would be for the right reasons this time, give them a memory to build on.

Admitting all the things he’d done wrong, all the mistakes, had made him vulnerable. For a moment, he needed her love, her attention, and her support.

He pulled his lips away, breathing heavily, digging his hands into her shoulders to try and calm himself down. It was futile, because she’d always affected him this way, from the first moment their lips had ever pressed together in a kiss. He sank his fingers into her hair, tilting her neck back so that it was exposed to his gaze. His mouth watered, wanting to go to town on it, but first he had to make sure she was on board with this. He didn’t want to take two steps forward and ten steps back.

“If you don’t want this, tell me and I’ll stop,” he whispered, his voice quiet in the room.

“No, I need you just as much as you need me,” she whispered back to him, moving her hands down his shoulders, then further to his abdomen. Once they stopped at his waist, she shoved his cut from his shoulders and then helped him get out of the T-shirt that covered his body.

Unlike most members of the club, he didn’t have visible tattoos with his shirt on. Instead his were on his chest and stomach. As her gaze roamed the expanse of skin she hadn’t had the chance to lazily take in for far too long, her eyes caught sight of new ink. “Mandy” was written in script letters on his chest, over his heart.

He knew the moment she saw it. Her breath caught, and his breath caught too because he didn’t know how she would react.

“I got it a few weeks ago. After the last time we were together.” He shrugged by way of explanation. It’d been a need he had, one he hadn’t been able to forget. He’d wanted something of hers on his body he couldn’t erase. Memories would fade the longer away from them he was, but the ink he’d put into his chest—it’d stay there until the day he died. “I needed some way to keep you near me, and I knew memories would fade. I wanted something much more permanent.”

She cupped his cheeks in her hands, feeling more than she ever had for this man who was emotional yet hard at the same time. It wasn’t easy to get past the defenses he’d put in place, but underneath he was a caring soul who took everything personally. “You were really planning on giving me up, weren’t you?”

He grabbed her hands and walked them over to the bed. Having a seat, he pulled her onto his lap. “I’ll do anything in this word to keep you safe. Everything I’ve done has been for you.” He trailed kisses along her jawline and lips. “Please understand that. Everything has been for you.”

As hard as it was, she was beginning to see that now, was starting to understand the man she thought she already understood. But there were layers to Dalton she hadn’t known existed.

Turning in his arms, she fused their lips together again, this time taking control of the kiss herself. Standing up in front of him, she widened his thighs, giving herself room. With sure hands, she pulled her shirt over her head, leaving her there in a bra that barely covered her assets. The one place she’d actually gained weight from the beginning was her boobs. The mounds of flesh threatened to spill over the top of the lace cups, especially as her breathing increased, and even the feel of her skin against the lace turned her on.

Dalton gave her a smile hot enough to send moisture to her core before he ran his hands up her stomach to her ribs before cupping her lace covered tits in his hands. His palms brushed her already firm nipples, causing them to harden even further against his touch.

“Feel good?” he asked, his tone dropping at least three octaves.

Fuck, even his voice turned her on, sent her knees buckling and her legs turning to jelly. “What would be really good,” she moaned as she arched her back to get closer, “is if you would use your mouth for more than talking.”

He chuckled before snagging her around the waist and doing exactly what she asked. As she stumbled towards him, his mouth closed around the turgid peak of her flesh. He could feel her hands move to her jeans, unbuttoning them and pushing them off her hips. She kicked off her shoes, the sound echoing loudly in the room.

Grasping her around the thighs, he pulled her over top of his lap, forcing her to straddle his hips. Situating her on her knees, he closed his mouth tighter around the taut nub, denting his fingers into her ass cheeks to bring her closer to him.

Mandy dug her fingers into his close-cropped hair, holding him tighter against her body. He growled against her skin, causing goosebumps to appear on her arms and chest.

He smeared his lips up the column of her neck, sucking greedily on her pulse point.

Giving herself over to the desire flowing through her veins, she pushed him back against the covers.

Before she could get comfortable, he hooked his hands behind her knees and anchored her, flipping them over.

“Give me a sec,” he whispered, giving her a chaste kiss before levering himself off the bed.

She watched, a smirk on her face as he got rid of his motorcycle boots. Her eyes followed his fingers as they went to the button of his jeans, watching attentively when he shoved them down and stepped out of the denim.

*

Dalton felt as if he couldn’t breathe as he looked at the picture in front of him. Mandy lay on his bed, her legs spread, waving a finger at him in a “come hither” motion. What he’d done to deserve this, he had no idea. There was a part of him that thought maybe he’d wake up and this would be over. But what a way to go.

Using his upper body strength, he put his hands on the mattress and walked up her body, leaving a trail of kisses and wetness from his tongue. She scissored her legs, thrust her pussy, and moaned when he touched her in ways he knew she loved.

Grasping her thighs, he held them open, making room for his body in between them. Once he knew he had the space he needed, he supported himself by his forearms, gripping their hands together.

It wasn’t the desperate shove home he’d thought it would be. It was tender, slow, and enough to take his breath away. He thanked God his eyes were closed, because he knew if Mandy could see the emotion, he’d lose it.

“I love you,” she whispered as she locked her legs around his waist, digging her feet into his ass. Her hands gripped his tighter as she pushed up against him.

He dropped his head, letting their foreheads touch. “Love you too. So fuckin’ scared I was going to lose you,” he breathed out. As he thrust in and out, words came out of his mouth, words he’d never meant to say, but they made their way to the surface anyway.

“Not good enough for you. Not good enough for our baby. I’ll spend my whole life trying to be good enough. The rest of my life making up for what I’ve put you through the past few months. Didn’t know how to love before I met you. Please don’t ever leave me,” he begged, working his hips against hers.

“You’re stuck with me.” She lifted her head off the pillow, chasing his lips, stealing one kiss and then another before sliding her tongue into his mouth and straight up owning him.

She timed the sweep of her tongue with the thrust and withdraw of his cock. It was a turn-on he’d never felt before, a little trick that had him pushing faster into her warm heat.

Untangling their fingers, he pushed his down her back and grasped the globes of her ass, anchoring her to him.

As he picked up speed, she ripped their lips apart, panting. “Don’t stop, Dalton, please don’t stop!”

Someone would have to kill him to make him quit now. They would have to physically remove his body from hers, and that would never happen.

Even though he wasn’t sure he could, he picked up speed, groaning as she screamed, and pushing them both through one of the most earth-shattering climaxes he’d ever had.

As they lay together, both trying to regulate their breathing, he had to believe things would work out.

‡
Chapter Twenty-Six